De’Aaron Fox just got paid.
Over the last three seasons, the Kings have made Fox the face of the franchise. They’ve worked to build a team around him and on Friday afternoon, they made a huge commitment to the 22-year-old point guard.
Fox is getting the full five-year, $163 million max extension with a clause in the contract that could push the deal to a super-max at $195.6 million, The Athletic's Shams Charania reported, citing sources.
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When you find a star that wants to be in Sacramento and help turn the franchise around, you PAY HIM.
It’s a lot of money, but if Fox’s play in the bubble is any indication, he’s ready to take another tremendous step forward in his production.
According to ESPN's Bobby Marks, Fox's extension will start at $28.1 million during the 2021-22 season and go up to $30.4 million in 2022-23, $32.6 million 2023-24, $34.8 million in 2024-25 and cap out at $37.1 million during the 2025-26 season. He has a chance to bump those numbers up considerably if he reaches the NBA's first, second or third team in the coming seasons.
This is a tremendous financial commitment for the Kings. They'll have to plan their future cap decisions around this contract and they are banking on Fox continuing his upward arc.
In his third NBA season, the speedster out of the University of Kentucky posted 21.1 points, 6.8 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game. After an extended layoff, he bumped those numbers to 26.2 points and 7.3 assists in the bubble.
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This is the player Sacramento hoped they were drafting when they selected Fox with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. He’s taken tremendous strides in each of his first three seasons and he still has plenty of room for improvement.
None of this is unexpected if you’ve been around the Kings franchise over the last few seasons. Former general manager Vlade Divac was building a squad focused on Fox for the last three seasons. When new general manager Monte McNair took over the team, he raved about Fox and his potential. Regardless of the change at the top of the Kings' organization, it was clear that Fox would continue to be the focal point moving forward.
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Fox is the first player from the 2017 draft class to get the max, but he won’t be the last. Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell and Bam Adebajo all are in line for huge paydays as well.
This is a tremendous win for both Fox and his agent Chris Gaston, from Family First Sports. It’s also a victory for Sacramento, who now has their best player locked up for the next six seasons.
Fox has never wavered from his desire to be in Sacramento. Now he knows that this is his team moving forward and he just earned the largest single contract in Kings history.