Grading NBA’s blockbuster De’Aaron Fox, Zach LaVine trade for Spurs, Kings, and Bulls

Let’s grade the De’Aaron Fox, Zach LaVine trade between the Spurs, Kings, and Bulls.

De’Aaron Fox is going to the San Antonio Spurs. Zach LaVine is joining the Sacramento Kings. The Chicago Bulls are getting back full control of their 2025 first-round pick via the Spurs. Another NBA blockbuster involving three teams has gone down, and this one affects both the top and bottom of the standings.

Here’s the full return for the three-team trade between the Spurs, Bulls, and Kings, via ESPN insider Shams Charania.

Spurs: De’Aaron Fox, Jordan McLaughlin

Kings: Zach LaVine, Sidy Cissoko, three first round picks (2025 CHA, 2027 SAS, 2031 MIN), three second round picks (2025 CHI, 2028 DEN, 2028 own back)

Bulls: Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, their own 2025 pick via SAS

Victor Wembanyama finally gets a worthy co-star teammate in San Antonio. The Kings traded one fringe All-Star guard for another while adding valuable draft compensation. The Bulls finally ditched LaVine just when he built up his trade value, but they didn’t get much in return for him. Let’s grade this deal from every side.

Spurs grade for De’Aaron Fox trade

The Spurs desperately needed to add some talent to the roster around Victor Wembanyama. Fox will be the best teammate the budding 21-year-old superstar has ever played with, and his addition should immediately push San Antonio up a level in the Western Conference. The fact that San Antonio got Fox while keeping all of their best young rotation players and both unprotected Atlanta Hawks draft picks they’re owed is a strong piece of work.

Fox has just one All-Star nod in his career playing in a deep conference, but over the last five seasons, he’s cumulatively averaged 25 points, six assists, and four rebounds per game. Fox might be the fastest player in the league end-to-end with the ball in his hands. He’ll give the Spurs an on-ball creation component they’ve never had in the Wembanyama era. He turned 27 years old in Dec., and is fully entrenched in the prime of his career right now.

Fox has never been a super efficient scorer in Sacramento. He is a shaky outside shooter with a career three-point percentage of 33.3 percent. His defensive impact feels neutral at best, but at least he’s not an eyesore on that end like some other names San Antonio could have considered. Best of all, Fox wanted to be in San Antonio and should be committed to the franchise long-term. There’s some chance he’ll be considered a “bad contract” if he signs a max extension, but the Spurs badly needed to add another high-level player, and Fox is a great addition while being young enough to fit their timeline.

The Spurs are giving up the Wolves’ 2031 unprotected first-round pick. They are giving up Chicago’s 2025 first-round pick, which they probably weren’t going to get anyway because it’s top-10 protected (and top-8 protected the next two years after that). The 2025 Hornets pick immediately converts into two seconds since it’s lottery-protected and Charlotte stinks. The Spurs will miss Collins and Jones a little, but not much.

In general, this is a worthy swing for the Spurs. Fox may not be the perfect Wembanyama co-star, but he’s a pretty good one.

Spurs grade: A-

Kings trade grade for De’Aaron Fox deal with Zach LaVine coming back

The Kings were stuck in a tough spot when Fox rejected their contract extension offer. Sacramento had to trade him while they could still get value with 1.5 seasons remaining on his deal, and somehow pulled off the difficult feat of trading a star player while assets that can help the team now and in the future.

Zach LaVine may have been unwanted on the trade market for more than a year, but he’s a similar quality player to Fox. LaVine is an excellent scorer who blends volume and efficiency as well as any player in the league outside of the game’s biggest stars. LaVine is an athletic slasher who also happens to shoot 44.6 percent from three on more than seven attempts per game. He can be an elite off-ball shooter and scorer in the right system.

Sacramento also adds some great draft equity in this deal. The Wolves’ unprotected 2031 pick is a highly value future chip, and the Spurs’ 2027 pick is a nice get too even if it has a lower ceiling. The Charlotte pick will convert into two seconds, and they added three more second-round picks in the deal.

Fox wasn’t quite a franchise player, but he was close. LaVine is a great replacement but if you have to trade him. LaVine now rejoins former Bulls teammate DeMar DeRozan in Sacramento, while Domantas Sabonis, Keegan Murray, and Malik Monk remain. The Kings are only .500 right now at 24-24 overall, but this trade will keep them competitive right now while also giving them more future flexibility.

Kings grade: A

Bulls grade for Zach LaVine trade

The Bulls had been trying to dump LaVine for more than a year but found no takers. After missing most of last season to injury, LaVine roared back to form this season on the brink of his 30th birthday and played at an All-Star caliber level (he was one of our biggest snubs for the game). Chicago is choosing a direction by finally trading their best player, but they waited far too long to properly tank, and the assets they’re getting back in this deal don’t amount to much.

Chicago originally traded a first round pick to San Antonio to get DeRozan in 2021. The pick was top-10 protected this year and top-8 protected in 2026 and 2027 before converting into second round picks. The Bulls should have been in line to retain the pick this year even without this trade. Chicago always seemed destined to move LaVine and Nikola Vucevic, so they likely would have kept the pick next year. What exactly are the Bulls getting out of this deal?

Well, now the Bulls can try to make the playoffs through the play-in tournament without risking losing their pick. They also have control of all their future first-round picks, which is nice for a team set to rebuild. Chicago should have been able to add some surplus draft capital in this trade, but the market for LaVine never really developed. Would it have been better this summer?

Mostly, the Bulls are saving money here:

Jones is a solid point guard who plays at a fringe starter level, and he’s a $9 million expiring salary this year. Collins will be an expiring deal after next season at $18 million. Huerter is also owed $18 million and will expire after the 2025-2026 season. Collins is a depth big man who won’t have much trade value, and Huerter is a shooter who hasn’t been able to shoot in two years.

The Bulls need to keep trading. Vucevic and Lonzo Ball should both be off the team by the Feb. 6 trade deadline, and the team would be wise try to trade Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu for value, too.

This is pretty poor value for LaVine. If Chicago played its cards right, they shouldn’t have been in jeopardy of losing their protected draft pick in the first place. The Bulls continue to be one of the most directionless organizations in the league. How long until Arturas Karnisovas is fired? He’s made too many mistakes to be trusted with Chicago’s next rebuild.

Bulls grade: C-