The NBA Finals are over. The Knicks have beaten the Spurs in five games. Every year, there are storylines that pervade the playoffs. Last season, it was Haliburton’s incredible run.
These playoffs, the storyline that stuck out to me more than any other was De’Aaron Fox’s fall from grace. Just a few seasons ago, he was the star of the Light The Beam Kings. He was an NBA media darling. Now, he’s a leper, and it isn’t hard to understand why. Take a look at his game log over the course of the NBA Finals:
Yikes. That is frighteningly low efficiency, especially for the volume of shots he was taking. That’s just his stats. There was also that layup attempt that the world has criticized him for.
Add an estimated salary next season of $49.5 million (which only escalates) and the fact that Dylan Harper looks ready to start next season, and you have a recipe for a player with negative value. The Spurs could look to dump Fox this offseason.
Can the Suns get involved? Should the Suns get involved?
What a trade would look like:
This is one option for what a De’Aaron Fox salary dump would look like. Right now, the calendar year hasn’t flipped over, and Fox’s on-paper salary is still $37 million. After the July 1 calendar change, the Suns are likely adding salary to this in the form of Grayson Allen.
In this deal, Jalen Green goes to the Pistons, who are in desperate need of buckets next to Cade Cunningham. In exchange, the Pistons send Duncan Robinson and Caris LeVert to San Antonio and two firsts to Phoenix. Those two firsts are this year’s #21 and Detroit’s own first in 2028. If Grayson is added to this deal, he goes to Detroit as well. In fact, I think Detroit may demand Grayson as part of the deal if they are giving up two first-round picks.
The Spurs are getting off of Fox and adding two quality vets on short contracts. In return, the Spurs are sending Atlanta’s 2027 1st, Boston’s 2028 1st, and Dallas’ 2030 1st to Phoenix.
Why this deal makes sense for Detroit
Despite boasting the 8th-best offense in the NBA last season, Detroit was 17th in three-point percentage, 29th in three-pointers attempted, and 28th in three-pointers made. After Cade Cunningham’s 18.6 field goal attempts per game, their second highest was Jalen Duren at 11.5. What the Pistons need is volume scoring and three-point shooting.
Green gives you average three-point shooting and high-volume scoring. With Detroit’s third ranked defense, you can get the benefits of Jalen Green in a system built to support him. If you add Grayson to this deal as well, then you also get great three-point shooting to go along with him.
To add this, you lose two first-round picks, one at #21 and the other likely to be even later in the draft, and two veteran role players that you are already replacing with upgrades in this trade.
This has the potential to be a no-brainer for Detroit.
Why this deal makes sense for San Antonio
If the Suns and Pistons call San Antonio with this deal, the Spurs will say yes faster than you could believe. At the end of this deal, they get off of one of the worst contracts in the NBA, get two quality NBA veterans, and they still have all of their own draft picks. They go into next season with Harper and Castle as their starting backcourt, and they threaten to go on Finals run after Finals run for the next decade.
Is three first-round picks a lot to give up? Yes, it is. But does it open the door for their core to flourish? Yes, it does. They are going to have to dump Fox at some point in the next few years anyway in order to pay for that core. The second apron comes for all in the end.
For San Antonio, the price prevents this from being a no-brainer, but I don’t think it stops the deal from being done.
Why this deal makes sense for Phoenix
This deal does many great things for the Suns. To start, it rights a wrong done almost a decade ago. In the 2017 NBA draft, the Suns should have selected De’Aaron Fox, not Josh Jackson. Fox should have been the Suns’ point guard for the last nine years.
More importantly, this deal nets the Suns around five first-round picks. While yes, there are new lottery rules that make picks more valuable and less likely to be traded in large quantities, this trade involves exactly zero first-round picks that are projected to be lottery picks. The most likely lottery pick is the Dallas pick in 2030, and we might have a whole new lottery system for that season. The new lottery system that just got approved is set to expire in 2029.
This trade opens a whole new level of flexibility that the Suns haven’t had in years. This gives the Suns first-round picks in every draft moving forward except 2029 and two in 2028.
The biggest reason the Suns do this trade, though, is because you are buying as low as possible on a second star. One that fits next to Devin Booker.
Don’t let the Finals fool you, De’Aaron Fox is really good at basketball. He was an All-Star just this past season, averaging 18.6 points, 16.2 assists, and 1.2 steals. To top it off, he is just 28 years old.
De’Aaron Fox is not a washed-up has-been. Much like Jalen Green, he is wildly overpaid on a roster where he is redundant. In Phoenix, he could have a new life as the co-star that Devin Booker needs.
Is he perfect? No, of course not. But we as Suns fans need to get used to the fact that in the near future, Phoenix is shopping for stars in the bargain bin. This kind of deal, where the Suns would provide an opportunity for a redemption arc while collecting assets, is the kind Phoenix needs to take a chance on.
The original name for this article was “The buy-low option I want to love.” But the fact is that I do love it. This deal, even if it was just for Fox and four first-round picks, brings the Suns closer to a title than they have been in years and gives them the asset flexibility to get even better in the future.
What do you think, Suns fans? Are you ready for the De’Aaron Fox experience?
