Grading Blockbuster 3-Team De’Aaron Fox NBA Trade Between Spurs, Kings, Bulls

Another 2025 NBA blockbuster trade is in the books.

As part of a three-team deal, De’Aaron Fox will land alongside Victor Wembanyama with the San Antonio Spurs. Zach LaVine is going to the Sacramento Kings. And the Chicago Bulls are, dare we say it, actually thinking about the bigger picture.

Below are the full details of the trade, as first reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania, and full breakdowns with grades for each team.

Chicago Bulls Receive: Zach Collins, Kevin Huerter, Tre Jones, 2025 first-round pick (their own, via San Antonio)

Sacramento Kings Receive: Sidy Cissoko, Zach LaVine, Charlotte’s 2025 first-round pick (lottery protection; turns into 2026 and 2027 seconds if not conveyed), Chicago’s 2025 second-round pick, San Antonio’s 2027 first-round pick, Denver’s 2028 second-round pick (top-33 protection, via San Antonio), 2028 second-round pick (its own, via Chicago), Minnesota’s 2031 first-round pick (via San Antonio)

San Antonio Spurs Receive: De’Aaron Fox, Jordan McLaughlin

In: Zach Collins, Kevin Huerter, Tre Jones, 2025 first-round pick (their own, via San Antonio)

Out: Zach LaVine, Sacramento’s 2028 second-round pick

This is not a good deal for the Bulls on its face. LaVine is averaging around 25 points and five assists per game while downing 56 percent of his twos and 44.6 percent of his triples. While the balance of his contract isn’t considered desirable (two years, $95 million after this one), he’s playing up to its value now.

The Bulls waited too long to move him. Better offers were likely on the table before last season. And by delaying his exit, they ended up winning just enough that they need to value getting the rights back to their own first-rounder this year.

Granted, Chicago could easily have ensured the pick didn’t convey as currently constructed. But this is more about 2026 and 2027, when it had top-eight protection. Regaining total control allows them to plot their next steps as a team unencumbered by highish-end draft obligations.

Taking back net-negative money in Collins and Huerter while forking over Sacramento’s second still isn’t great. But their contracts only run another year apiece. The Bulls will save about $10 million in salary next season and get out from under LaVine’s entire $49 million player option in 2026-27. There’s always the chance Huerter regains what was once a highly coveted motion-shooting stroke and becomes re-flippable as an expiring contract, and Chicago has the ability to chisel out a massive traded player exception as part of this deal.

In the end, this deal is valuable because of what it implies more than what it brings back: that the Bulls aren’t done, that more selling is to come and that they’re finally, mercifully, thinking more than one 10th-place finish ahead.

In: Sidy Cissoko, Zach LaVine, Charlotte’s 2025 first-round pick (lottery protection), Chicago’s 2025 second-round pick, San Antonio’s 2027 first-round pick, Denver’s 2028 second-round pick (top-33 protection, via San Antonio), 2028 second-round pick (its own, via Chicago), Minnesota’s 2031 first-round pick (via San Antonio)

Out: De’Aaron Fox, Jordan McLaughlin

The optics of the Kings reuniting LaVine and DeMar DeRozan while forfeiting their franchise centerpiece in the process is equal parts hilarious, bizarre and, for Kings fans, incredibly frustrating.

Make no mistake, LaVine’s rim pressure, spot-up touch and off-the-dribble jump-shooting will be an excellent fit alongside DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis and the rest of the roster. Sacramento’s playmaking takes a hit without Fox, but DeRozan, Sabonis and Malik Monk can all bridge the gap.

Whether that holds true in the postseason—or, more likely, the play-in—is up for debate. DeRozan’s efficiency has generally cratered against playoff defenses, and Monk, for all his improvement, is not someone who’s needed to shepherd the offense through high-leverage moments against set defenses.

There will also be a defensive drop-off going from Fox to LaVine. Heavy lifts for Keon Ellis and Keegan Murray just got heavier. The return of Devin Carter helps, but just like offseasons and trade deadlines past, the Kings fail to beef up their biggest voids—wings, a reserve big—in favor of upgrading or preserving the status quo of their strengths.

Prioritizing immediate results also contributes to Sacramento receiving maaaybe one premium asset attached to LaVine. The Kings did not get any of the Spurs’ youngsters. They didn’t get their 2031 swap back. They couldn’t even get San Antonio’s pick this year.

That Charlotte first is two seconds. The 2027 San Antonio pick should be in the 20s. There is upside in the Minnesota pick. The Kings increase their wiggle room beneath the luxury tax and, potentially, dredge up a sizable traded player exception. That’s it.

There will be attempts to frame this deal in a positive light. Ignore them. The Kings didn’t have to be here. They bumbled the Fox relationship amid fundamental failures to fill obvious, longstanding needs and then allowed the front office responsible to move him for a return that emphasizes complacency and brings back draft equity with low-to-medium upside at a time in their existential cycle that should demand they start over. That’s not OK.

In: De’Aaron Fox, Jordan McLaughlin

Out: Zach Collins, Sidy Cissoko, Tre Jones, Charlotte’s 2025 first-round pick (lottery protection), Chicago’s 2025 first-round pick (top-10 protection), Chicago’s 2025 second-round pick, 2027 first-round pick (unprotected), Denver’s 2028 second-round pick (top-33 protection), Minnesota’s 2031 first-round pick (unprotected)

Four first-round picks, two of which are unprotected, seem like a lot at an initial glance.

They’re not.

Charlotte’s first-rounder will become two seconds. Chicago had the power to retain its own pick this year if it properly gamed the rest of the schedule. The Spurs lose some upside on the out years, but the pick had top-eight protection for 2026 and 2027. It was never going to be an ultra-premium selection. And San Antonio’s 2027 pick is actually less valuable than its 2025 first-rounder.

What’s more, the Spurs managed to get off Collins’ net-negative contract, keep all of their Atlanta Hawks picks, retain swap rights on Sacramento’s own 2031 first and avoid giving up any of their prospects. Minnesota’s 2031 first-rounder is the glitziest asset headed out. And while it’s somewhat intriguing, the Timberwolves shouldn’t entirely suck so long as Anthony Edwards is in town.

Impressions of this trade will diverge if you dislike or are skeptical of Fox’s fit with Victor Wembanyama. Or if you’d rather have seen the Spurs prioritize maximizing the placement of this year’s draft pick. Optimism should be the default.

Fox’s perimeter-shooting splits are wonky, but he’s hitting 35-plus percent of his step-back triples, over 50 percent of his floaters and above 46 percent of his pull-up twos. His capacity to break down set defenses will be a boon for the Spurs’ half-court offense, which is 16th in overall efficiency and rates in the 16th percentile when Wemby’s on the bench.

Even if you believe Fox is too reliant on athleticism, the extension he can sign this summer runs through the heart of his prime years. More importantly, the Spurs have the assets necessary to continue filling out and perfecting the supporting cast around Wemby. They control six of their next seven firsts, own two Atlanta firsts outright (2025 and 2027) and have swaps with Atlanta in 2026, Boston in 2028 (top-one protection), Dallas (top-one protection) or Minnesota in 2030 and Sacramento in 2031.