The Sacramento Kings have handed out the NBA’s first max contract of the 2020 offseason, and it’s to keep their own point guard long-term.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Sacramento has agreed to a five-year, $163 max contract extension with De’Aaron Fox. The contract reportedly has a clause to reach the $195.6 million supermax.
Sacramento Kings young star De'Aaron Fox has agreed to a five-year, $163M maximum extension, with clause to reach the $195.6M super max, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
Deal negotiated by his agent @chrisgaston_ of @FamFirstSports.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 21, 2020
So, clearly Fox is *the* guy in Sacramento going forward, even after the organization used the No. 12 overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft to select Iowa State point guard Tyrese Haliburton — who many evaluators viewed as a top-five prospect in the draft — on Wednesday. But in today’s NBA, you can never have too many playmaking point/combo guards.
Fox — who turns 23 on Dec. 22 — averaged 21.1 points, 6.8 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in 51 games for the Kings this past season. While his three-point shooting was the worst mark of his three-year at 29.2 % (after 37.1% in 2019-20), he still had some career-best marks in efficiency, like with his 48.0 field goal % and 20.6 Player Efficiency Rating.
The University of Kentucky product — and No. 5 overall pick by the Kings in the 2017 NBA Draft — was particularly good in the Orlando bubble, averaging 25 points while shooting 50% from the field.
De'Aaron Fox's 5-year extension (min. $163M) will be the most expensive contract in Kings history.
The previous-largest was Chris Webber at $122.7M.
Fox played some of his best basketball in the bubble. He was 1 of 5 players to average 25 points on 50% shooting in the bubble. pic.twitter.com/2E24tDVxQF
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 21, 2020
Sacramento went 31-41 in the 2019-20 season, and last reached the playoffs in 2005-06 (yeah, it’s been a long time).
We’ll see where the Kings go from here, but they’ve quickly taken care of their biggest offseason decision.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.