Ahead of the upcoming NBA trade deadline, one of the biggest names potentially available in a move is Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst confirmed as much on the latest episode of The Hoop Collective podcast, noting that the New York Knicks are potential suitors. Meanwhile, veteran basketball insider Marc Stein added that “numerous competing teams continue to believe” the Kings are willing to part with Fox.
Ultimately, this isn’t a good idea for the Knicks. Although casual basketball fans might not realize it, after a promising start to his professional career, Fox has faced serious regression over the past couple of seasons.
Fox, who is owed $163 million over the next five seasons, is paid like a superstar. However, it’s unclear if he has that kind of impact, especially on defense.
Despite what his nickname (“Swipa”) may indicate, his steal percentage actually falls below average for a player at his position.
But that’s not the most notable concern. He really struggles to defend the opposing pick and roll and all too often, the man he is guarding beats him off the bounce for a dribble jumper.
You cannot convince me that De’Aaron Fox is ever going to play an ounce of defense in Sacramento.
It’s been 5 years of zero effort.
He’s on his third coach.
It’s not going to change.
— SactownBabyGiraffe (@TimMaxwell22) December 12, 2021
Case and point: Fox defended Houston guard Kevin Porter Jr. for more than seven minutes on Jan. 16. During such possessions, Porter was 5-for-6 from the field and he made all four of his 3-pointers. Earlier that week, on Jan. 12, Lakers guard Malik Monk was 3-for-4 from beyond the arc when defended by Fox.
Meanwhile, opponents are taking and making significantly more shots from the short midrange zone (between four and fourteen feet of the basket) during Fox’s minutes.
They’ve also had very little trouble scoring near the basket. When defended by Fox, according to NBA’s tracking data, opponents are currently shooting 74-for-98 (75.5%) at the rim so far this season.
De'Aaron Fox has this weird habit on defense of backing up and extending his arms. It usually results in this: pic.twitter.com/Qam7LsdSDj
— Harrison Hamm (@harrisonhamm21) January 21, 2022
Among the 157 players who have defended the most field goal attempts at the rim so far this season, only two have allowed a higher field goal percentage than Fox has in 2021-22.
But this isn’t just an anomaly from this season. If you look at the same data from his campaign back in 2019-20, he ranked fifth-worst among the players who logged the most possessions.
Overall, his defensive impact ranks fifth-worst on FiveThirtyEight’s RAPTOR (minimum: 1,000 minutes) this season. Sacramento’s overall defensive rating is the second-worst in the league and, further, the Kings are allowing an additional 5.7 points per 100 possessions when Fox is on the floor compared to when he is not, per PBPStats.
If he’s your option as a point-of-attack defender in the postseason, things could get ugly. However, a lot of players have defensive limitations.
It’s just that at present moment, his offensive productivity doesn’t exactly make up for the downfall. New York desperately needs help in their backcourt with more playmaking as they currently rank last in assists per game among teams in the Eastern Conference.
For example, via Cleaning the Glass, Fox’s assist percentage (23.9%) ranks in the 28th percentile among all point guards this season. Worse, though, is his willingness to even pass the ball. His assist-to-usage ratio, which measures how often a player was able to record an assist relative to how often he had the ball, is the worst in the NBA among point guards who have logged at least 100 minutes.
Sacramento averages fewer assists per 100 possessions during Fox’s minutes and compared to other players who frequently drive to the basket, the former Kentucky standout is statistically one of the least likely to pass as well.
Worst of all? Fox is currently shooting less than 25% on 3-pointers this season. Even though Fox is arguably more talented than any of the guards who are currently on the Knicks roster, this isn’t the guy you want to build your team around.
