Photo: De'Aaron Fox Thanks Sacramento After Kings, Spurs Trade Involving Zach LaVine

Star point guard De'Aaron Fox thanked the city of Sacramento and Kings' fans on Monday after the three-way trade that landed him with the San Antonio Spurs over the weekend.

The three-way deal sent Fox and Jordan McLaughlin to San Antonio; the Kings' received Zach LaVine, Sidy Cissoko, three first-round picks and three second-rounders; and the Chicago Bulls obtained a 2025 first-round pick (their own, reacquired from San Antonio) alongside Zach Collins, Tre Jones and Kevin Huerter, according to ESPN's Shams Charania (h/t ESPN's Jamal Collier).

Fox, 27, was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2017 draft by the Kings and spent his entire career up to this point with the franchise, earning both an All-Star Game bid and third-team All-NBA honors in the 2022-23 season.

In parts of eight seasons with the team, he's averaged 21.5 points and 6.1 assists per game and has averaged over 25 points per contest in each of the past three campaigns.

But once Fox declined a three-year, $165 million extension from the Kings before the season, the clock was ticking. While that was partly about maintaining the ability to potentially sign an even bigger four-year, $229 million extension after the 2024-25 season—or a five-year, $345 million supermax extension if he earned All-NBA honors—it also meant that he was still on track to potentially be a free agent following the 2025-26 campaign.

And there were plenty of indications—both publicly and reportedly—that he was mulling over his future. Once reports emerged that the Kings were listening to offers, the writing was on the wall.

For Sacramento, trading Fox now meant getting a strong package in return without running the risk of eventually losing him for nothing in free agency after the 2025-26 season. LaVine will help the team's short-term goals, while the first-round picks—albeit highly conditional—are solid assets to take into the future.

The Spurs, on the other hand, now have an excellent pick-and-roll partner for ascending superstar Victor Wembanyama and were able to obtain Fox without giving up any of their intriguing young players or best draft assets.

The Fox addition may not be enough to vault them into postseason contention this season. At 21-25, the Spurs are currently 12th in the loaded Western Conference, two games out of the final Play-In Tournament berth and 5.5 games back of the final guaranteed playoff spot.

But the future is looking very bright.