After enjoying a few years as a contender, the Sacramento Kings might be back in the NBA wilderness again.

The Kings are trading star guard De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs in a three-team deal that also includes the Chicago Bills sending swingman Zach LaVine to Sacramento, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes.

Shams Charania of ESPN provided the full details of the trade:

This past December, The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Anthony Slater reported how the Kings were in a “danger zone” with their best player. His agent, Rich Paul, had met with general manager Monte McNair and assistant GM Wes Wilcox to discuss their long-term vision.

Paul didn’t request a trade on his client’s behalf, but he and Fox were “reading the room in Sacramento before deciding what comes next,” per Amick and Slater wrote.

“But the Kings’ beam isn’t burning as bright as it was two seasons ago, when Fox and Domantas Sabonis led the group that broke the franchise’s league-record playoff drought,” The Athletic report said. “And now, the prospect of him declining an extension again this summer — or perhaps telling them ahead of time that he plans on doing so—would inevitably force the Kings to consider trading Fox rather than losing him for nothing in free agency two summers from now.”

The firing of head coach Mike Brown, only months after he signed a sizable extension, was widely viewed as a move with Fox in mind, though that was far from the only factor at play. At the very least, Fox didn’t sound heartbroken to see Brown gone.

While Sacramento was making an effort to appease the 2022-23 All-Star, rival teams were smelling blood in the water. ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reported in December the San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat were prepared to pounce if a trade became a possibility.

Things took another turn when Shams Charania of ESPN reported on Jan. 28 the Kings were “expected to open talks” on a possible Fox trade. Fox denied making an outright trade request, which might’ve raised even more questions about the team’s pivot with a little more than a week until the trade deadline.

McNair was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Losing Fox as a free agent would’ve been a disaster. In some cases, letting a star player walk isn’t necessarily a bad thing under the current collective bargaining agreement because payroll flexibility can be huge toward filling out a veteran-laden roster. But that’s not really where the Kings are right now.

Trading Fox, meanwhile, was always going to be an unpopular decision despite the fact fans are well aware of the ticking clock his free agency presents. The discontent stems largely from the fact Sacramento doesn’t enjoy the benefit of the doubt on basically anything.

The 2023 playoff run sparked hope the dysfunction that long plagued the franchise was a thing of the past. The Kings had a young, fun roster and stability within the front office and coaching staff.

The way everything has unraveled since then raises fears that the “Kangz” are well and truly back. Or maybe they never left at all.

A trade of this magnitude was inevitable for the Spurs as they continue their work of building a contender around French phenom Victor Wembanyama.

San Antonio exercised some patience after only winning 22 games in Wembanyama’s rookie year. The approach worked relatively well as the team is currently 21-25 in 2024-25.

But the front office wasn’t going to sit on its hands forever. The Spurs had ample draft capital to acquire pretty much whichever star player became available. It was just a matter of waiting for the right target to hit the market.

In Fox, general manager Brian Wright saw an opportunity too good to pass up.

Meanwhile, the Kings will receive a package headlined by LaVine and a haul of draft picks.

The 29-year-old LaVine is averaging 24 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game this season. He shot 51.1 percent from the field and 44.6 percent from three-point range in 42 appearances with the Bulls.

LaVine is owed $3 million this season, $46 million next season and has a $49 million player option for the 2026-27 season.