De’Aaron Fox hiring Rich Paul doesn’t mean he’s asking the Kings for a trade

In recent beam team news, it was reported on Nov. 13 by ESPN’s Damien Barling that Sacramento Kings star De’Aaron Fox is switching representatives and has signed with Rich Paul and Klutch Sports. Of course this news put Kings’ Twitter in a frenzy about the possibility of losing their franchise player.

Rich Paul is the agent of Lebron James and rose to elite agent status due to their success together. He now has a top-notch client list that includes the likes of Anthony Davis, Ben Simmons, John Wall, Lonzo Ball and Dejounte Murray.

One similarity amongst all of those players is they have all switched teams within the last few years. Most notably AD... to join Lebron and the Lakers.

But during an appearance on a recent episode of the “Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective” podcast, ESPN reporter Marc Spears said that Fox hiring Paul to represent him doesn’t mean he’s asking for a trade, and that Fox himself told him he’s quite content in Sacramento:

Spears: ”He just loves how they’ve treated him, he wants to win for them, he wants to win for the city.”

Windhorst: ”Can I interrupt you again? So he just switched to Rich Paul as his agent and he’s under contract for many years, I think he’s got three years left after this, but I don’t know...”

Spears: ”He’s not asking out. I think people were nervous about that, but De’Aaron doesn’t want to leave. He’s kind of in the Dame mold. Like he wants to do something special there. Because I asked him, ‘why haven’t you asked out?’ And he was like ‘I don’t want to be handed something. I want to build something here.’”

And if the word of a well-sourced reporter wasn’t good enough for you, Fox himself told Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report the same thing, on the record:

“When you’re an athlete who has any notoriety and you make a major change, it’s going to circulate and people are going to speculate. But for me, I love being in Sacramento,” Fox told B/R. “This move had nothing to do with wanting to be traded or wanting to move on. This has more to do with myself and the business of basketball, and I feel like they’re able to help me in ways that I’ve never been able to be helped before. It was really a level up.

“That’s not being disrespectful to anybody else,” added Fox, who was previously represented by Chris Gaston and the Family First Sports Firm, “but (Klutch) is one of the best in the game regardless of if it’s basketball or off-the-court business ventures. I understand the importance of infrastructure, and I feel like they do such a great job in every aspect of not only business but in life. I just felt like it was an upgrade in every single way.”

Que the collective sigh of relief from every Kings fan.

Knowing your franchise player has a winning mentality is great. But knowing that they specifically want to be a winner on your team is a dream come true. Many fans — myself included — have carried a small amount out fear in the back of our minds that if Fox got the idea he could win a championship elsewhere after years of misery on the Kings, he would request out and leave the team to be horrible yet again.

But now, with the way both he and his team are playing, I no longer foresee his departure for quite some time. The Kings are having fun... from the key players to the guys that don’t even see the court on a nightly basis. There is now a legitimate and competent basketball franchise in the city of Sacramento. Some would say a... beam... of light for the team.

If Fox is truly looking to build something here, the foundation is laid. The next step is for the players, coaches and front office to be consistent and show some passion. For the first time in a long time, the Kings can both enjoy the present and look forward to the near future. One that will certainly involve De’Aaron Fox.