Why the Kings lost the De'Aaron Fox trade

The Kings continue to be the biggest laughingstock of the NBA.

On Sunday, they traded an in-his-prime superstar, De'Aaron Fox, for an underwhelming haul that doesn't help them in the short or long term. 

Let's break down the haul they received, shall we?

Zach LaVine, 29, has played four playoff games in his 11-year career. When not injured, he has racked up losses at an alarming rate. If the Kings feel pairing up LaVine with Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan will lead to relevancy, they're in for a harsh reality check. 

Sidy Cissoko, 20, is a French project who could become an NBA player someday. 

The three first-round picks sound good on paper, but not when you dig deeper. Charlotte's 2025 pick is top-14 protected, meaning it's unlikely to convey (will convert into two future seconds). The Spurs' 2027 first-rounder isn't attractive since Victor Wembanyama will be in his fourth season and the Spurs will be at the top of the West (enjoy your late 20s pick, Kings). And Minnesota's 2031 first-rounder is too far into the future to care about.

The Kings should have demanded Stephon Castle, the Spurs' prized rookie, and at least three unprotected first-round picks, to set themselves up for the future. Instead, they allowed the Bulls — the third team in the trade — to re-acquire their 2025 first-round pick and three low-risk pieces in Zach Collins, Tre Jones and Kevin Huerter.

For all intents and purposes, the Bulls may have won this trade. They dumped LaVine's contract, got back their first-round pick this year and are now incentivized to tank. The Kings won't have a high draft pick anytime soon and will remain irrelevant for years. 

Even ESPN's Kevin Pelton feels the Kings erred by prioritizing a veteran like LaVine over a brighter future. 

"I can't help but wonder about the paths not chosen here," Pelton wrote of the Kings. "To little surprise, the Kings prioritized getting back current talent and cap flexibility over maximizing their draft-pick return by sending one of the three real first-rounders the Spurs surrendered to the Bulls for LaVine."

The Spurs had up to nine tradeable first-round picks. They only had to part with a few while holding on to Castle and their entire young core. Surely, the Kings could have done better.