Following the Kings win over the New Orleans Pelicans Wednesday night, De’Aaron Fox spoke to the media for the first time in a while and addressed his well-documented slump to begin the season.
He had a good game in the win over the Pelicans, finishing with 19 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal and was 8-14 from the field. Overall, he was a +10 on the night. As usual, Fox was honest and genuine in his answers about his recent struggles. He downplayed the idea that the switch from a Spalding ball to the Wilson ball the NBA is using this season has anything to do with his shooting; said having COVID-19 has nothing to do with it; and that none of this has got to him mentally. He did play up the fact that the team has stepped up during this stretch, and what the team can be when he is back at the level we are accustomed to seeing.
“It’s definitely good, we’re at .500 now and we could be a few games over, but I mean this is probably the worst stretch I’ve had since I’ve been in the league as far as putting the ball in the basket, but that’s not the only thing that the game is about so it’s been alright for me,” Fox said. “But the team has definitely stepped up and we won some games and we definitely lost some we feel like we should have won.”
He said the team is different this season in that they have enough fire power to make up for it when someone isn’t playing well. What he likes most about the team so far is what they have been able to do defensively in terms of the activity, getting a lot of deflections and steals.
Like his teammates have mentioned about his scoring slump, Fox reiterated it’s just a stretch of bad games he is going through.
“For me, it’s keep working, people go through stretches like this in basketball and whatever sport they’re playing in life,” Fox said. “After a game I try to do what I do after the game and let it go. You don’t have enough time in the NBA to dwell over what happened in the previous game so you just gotta look forward to the next one.”
And he was in a bit of a feisty mood, understandably given his struggles to score so far this season. When he was asked if he is OK mentally from the pressure of being the franchise guy and what’s currently happening, he said:
“I’m fine. Once I go home, I don’t really give a fuck, it’s over, you know what I’m saying? I watch film, when I’m in the gym that’s what I’m thinking about, but when I’m not in the gym I talked to my friends, my people, my fiancé, that is what it is. If I’m not playing well, I know I’m not playing well. I don’t really give a fuck if someone else tells me I’m not playing well. If I am playing well, I know I’m playing well,” he said. “Growing up my parents didn’t always tell me, ‘good job.’ That shit didn’t matter to me, I never played for gratitude, it didn’t matter to me. If I’m not playing well, I know I’m not. If I’m playing well, I know I am, it doesn’t matter what anybody is telling me.”
A few things are clear here: Fox isn’t one to make excuses and isn’t shy about admitting he is struggling. It is good to hear all of this isn’t in his head and he understands that his team is doing enough to win. Though he had a slightly more Fox-like game Tuesday night, he also wasn’t basking in that and knows there’s more to be done.
“It felt better to play a better game, but there’s still a lot to go,” he said.
To watch the full media session, see below.
Fowl Mouth!
First 30 minutes of this movie are low key hilarious.
The dialogue in that movie is soooo good.
We know, pal! Just stay after it.
Let’s hope this Pels game marks the beginning of the end of the slump for Fox. Got a feeling that in about 5 games or so all the people in the comments saying we need to trade him are gonna look even sillier than they already have!
Fox for Simmons, please.
No silliness involved.
Or Jaylen Brown. Or Brandon Ingram.
It’s not Fox hate, it’s roster construction. I would take any of those three guys along with a backcourt of Mitchell and Hali (and Hield).
Brown or Ingram, absolutely, both would be perfect fits.
For sure. Sign me up.
Heartbeat for me to argue with a Nostra-dumbass winner but Ingram hasn’t looked great this year
That said, I wasn’t able to watch last night’s game so I might be completely wrong here
He didn’t play last night, but a 24 year old combo 3/4 all-star who averaged 24, 5, 5 last season while shooting nearly 40% from three and is locked up for 4 years, is someone the Kings should be willing to give anyone up for.
Of course, neither has Fox. But really, whatever one’s opinion on those players is, it probably shouldn’t be informed much by this 8-9 game sample.
That’s fair. I want to comes to adequately determinating skill and value of a player. I’m way behind some of the better folks on the site like Rob.
All I have is the eye test and I don’t see too well anyway and I’m out of market and refuse to pay for league pass so I don’t get to watch as many games as I would like.
Please don’t compliment Rob, it goes to his
headpants.Plus, I don’t know shit.
not a chance in hell those trades are ever on the table
Or Jayson Tatum, who is also playing poorly of late.
With the emergence of OG and Barnes in Toronto, Siakam may be had for far less.
That would definitely worth considering, dependent on the fine print.
The big question: Does Fox, even playing at a high level, raise the level of his teammates? The evidence of last few years is no.
Would the team be dramatically better with Davion at point and an Ingram or Siakam or Tatum in the lineup rather than Harkless?
Duh.
Have you, y’know, seen his teammates over the last few years?
Interestingly enough, the Raptors are weak at shooting from the 2 spot, as they roll out Trent Jr., and they are very shallow on legit centers. Come Dec. 14th maybe something centered around Buddy and TT for Siakam could be a thing.
What Toronto have a ton of are 4s. They may be more willing to move and get out of Siakam’s deal if Barnes, OG, Boucher, and Achiuwa and fill the 3/4 rotation.
I think if the Raptors stay hot, they’re not moving anyone. I like Ingram. But Reddish could be had a lot cheaper
Agreed. I think the Hawks want to move Reddish because they are cash strapped with all the extensions they have and yet to give. He’s the odd man out and might be acquired for cap relief or future assets.
Was thinking about this today…what does a Reddish deal even look like? Doesn’t feel like Hawks have obvious holes to fill. He’s not a big salary and can’t imagine they are looking to take on future money. Pick(s)?
Just couldn’t off top of my head come up with a reasonable Reddish deal. Anybody any thoughts?
Edit: Sorry Adam, didn’t see last part of your post. Makes sense to me. All I could think of too.
I think the issue with Reddish (and I’m just going off what I can recall) is that they need to make up their minds about extending him this year or he becomes a RFA after next season. Again, not 100% certain.
Weren’t there rumors about the Hawks trying to deal him this past offseason for that reason? I feel he is a good/young NBA player that could help many teams, but it’s just that the Hawks are too deep with rookie scale contracts that are worthy of extension and he is the odd man out. After paying Huerter, Collins, and wanting to keep Hunter long term there just isn’t enough space for Reddish
Yep to all that. In that sense Hawks can’t really take back anything except picks or maybe an even younger player that they can push that decision off for another year or two.
Cant imagine any crappy team would offer an early lottery type pick for him, so maybe the kings middling 10-15 pick would be best they could do? Maybe there is an interesting 1st or 2nd year player they might be interested in. Kings don’t have that tho that they would be willing to deal.
I think the guy the Kings should be after is John Collins. Bagley + Thompson + 2 unprotected FRP’s in ’22 & ’24 for Collins. I think Atlanta thinks about that for a hot minute. They have a bunch of guys about to get real expensive.
Keep in mind, too, both Reddish and Hunter are both extension/RFA guys at the same time. If the Hawks wanted to extend Hunter next off season and hold off until the next off season in ’23 to resign Reddish, they’d have that flexibility. And technically? I don’t even think they need to necessarily move Collins until next summer.
I got my tickets for the 76ers game. I like to hedge my bets. Also I submit this is a good time to expand the league. Since Simmons want’s a team built around him on offense how about just build a team around him literally… In Seattle or Virginia Beach. The team can be called the Benjamins.
He’ll become a complete player worth building around any day now, I just know it!
Mitchell is eventually going to start
If Hali is having trouble bodying SG’s, hes the one who is likely going to have to check SFs eventually
I love this man
Needs more hair.
When so many in the NBA are having so many struggles with saying you’re doing the right thing recently. It is refreshing to see that Fox is professionally handling everything.
A bit of a take but with the current roster we have, trading Fox for a Siakam, Simmons, Ingram or Brown should be done ASAP.
Fox is the odd-man out right now, not entirely his fault but Monte should’ve drafted someone who’s a better compliment to Fox and Hali, a 3 and D guy or a rangy 4. With Davion showing his chops, the best way for us to stop the drought is to trade Fox for a better fit with the team.
Just imagine a starting lineup of Mitchell, Haliburton, Barnes, any of Siakam-Simmons-Ingram-Brown, and Holmes. That is a scary lineup and a contender for the West.
I have no idea if Fox could land any of those guys straight up. Siakim I guess.
But if he can then that’s 100% why you don’t take the rangy 3/4 in draft and take who you think is best player and deal your duplicate players later. Likelihood any draftee becomes as good as those guys is slim.
That said I’m not dealing Fox yet based on this sample size, unless it was Tatum, Brown or Ingram which feels lil unlikely to me at this stage.
why do people think Jaylen Brown can be had??
I don’t think that he can be easily had, any more than Ingram or Ben Simmons can be had. But anytime a team underperforms or a player is unhappy, discussion ensues.
Also, Jaylen Brown can be had. The question is at what price? I’m not sure what the current list of NBA untradeable players is, but I’m pretty sure that Jaylen Brown is not on it. And that is by no means a knock on Jaylen Brown.
New nickname- De’Aaron “I don’t give a” Fox
It’s been pretty bad so far, but that doesn’t mean he should be benched for fucking Mitchell like somebody said in the recent game thread. And why would you trade him now when he’s struggling? Wouldn’t you rather wait til he gets hot again and the price maybe goes up? or maybe then you wouldn’t want to trade him because he’s doing so well.
People get too reactionary on here.
Probably true , but in many cases it is the belief that Fox at his best is not as valuable to winning as a Simmons, Siakim, or Ingram would be ! I happen to agree with this opinion and do like Fox and his talent just think this a better direction !
My guess is that NBA GMs are not as swayed by small sample sizes as the general public. I don’t think that Fox’s market value is any higher or lower than it was before the season began.
rose colored glasses from someone who might want value on a trade IMO
Fox’s value is worse
Thank you, general public!
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