Grade the trade: Instant reaction to Spurs blockbuster De'Aaron Fox, LaVine deal

When you have a superstar like Victor Wembanyama, your timeline becomes now.

It certainly helps when an All-NBA level talent also requests a trade to join said 10-foot superstar in one of America's greatest cities. While Saturday night brought the out-of-nowhere blockbuster trade, Sunday brought the one everyone expected from the moment De'Aaron Fox "didn't" request a trade and "didn't" mention San Antonio as his preferred destination.

With murmurs turning into expectation an hour ahead of time, the deal finally came through at 7:30 PM CT, courtesy of Shams Charania of ESPN: De'Aaron Fox is now a member of the San Antonio Spurs.

The Sacramento Kings also did what the Dallas Mavericks seemed incapable of doing, negotiating for a trade package they can be happy with. Zach LaVine and a trio of first-round picks head back to the Kings to allow them to win now and in the future. The Chicago Bulls join the fray as the surprise third team to make everything fall into place.

Here are the full details of the 3-team blockbuster deal:

For the Kings, they land a draft-pick heavy package from the Spurs, with three firsts and three seconds. They get a fringe All-Star guard in Zach LaVine who can approximate much of what Fox brought while also providing more off-ball utility as a shooter; he's a much worse defender, but that's why they also got a bucket of picks and moved off of Kevin Huerter's contract.

The Bulls get involved to move off of the long-term salary of LaVine, and in the process can now fully open for business this trade season by acquiring back their own 2025 first-round pick from the Spurs. Expect a fire sale, with veterans being sold off and an all-out tank job ensuing as Chicago chases the likes of Cooper Flagg and Ace Bailey.

What about the Spurs? Was this the trade they needed to make, and did they overspend to land a running mate for Victor Wembanyama?

Grading the Trade for the Spurs

The ideal trade for the Spurs to land De'Aaron Fox would allow them to keep key players in their rotation to be competitive around Fox and Wembanyama; hold onto Stephon Castle as a potential third star; and keep the very best of their first-round draft picks, including this year's Atlanta pick and a 2031 first-round swap with the Kings.

And the Spurs did....all of that. They checked every single box.

That's the beauty of leverage, which the Spurs had because Fox and his agent Rich Paul made it clear (without ever doing it on record) that they wanted a trade and that they wanted to end up in San Antonio. That clearly depressed the market, opening up a pathway for the Spurs to hold on to all of their best assets.

It also helps when you have built a war chest of draft picks so deep that you can afford to trade "four of the not-so-good ones" and keep all the ones you like. The Spurs will have at least one lottery pick this season as Atlanta is in freefall, and their own will likely land in the late lottery if they win at a high level with Fox aboard the rest of the year. They still own extra picks down the line to continue building out the roster in future years or to use in a trade for another star.

Winning in the present is certainly on the table as well. De'Aaron Fox, Devin Vassell and Victor Wembanyama is a solid trio, with Chris Paul, Harrison Barnes and Keldon Johnson able to fill roles and Jeremy Sochan and Stephon Castle young ascending talent. The Spurs even kept Malaki Branham in the trade! Add in the savings of getting off of the terrible Zach Collins deal and they truly checked every box.

It doesn't matter if Fox wasn't the best potential player they can make a deal for; they retained enough of their draft capital and good matching salary that they can go out and get another star if the right one comes available. The fit between Fox and Wembanyama is good enough to take this swing, and they still have the ammo to fire again.

It's possible that De'Aaron Fox isn't good enough to be the No. 2 on a championship team. Perhaps that's Castle in a few years. Perhaps Vassell levels up. Perhaps the Hawks pick turns into Cooper Flagg or VJ Edgecombe. Perhaps they trade for Jaylen Brown or Giannis Antetokounmpo or Luka Doncic.

In the end, the Spurs got off of Collins' contract, moved on from two low-ceiling players in Tre Jones and Sidy Cissoko, traded four first-round picks (really three because the Charlotte first is going to turn into two seconds) and some seconds, and landed De'Aaron Fox, who was named to an All-NBA team just two years ago.

The Spurs had options before, and they have options now, but also a second All-Star to pair with Wembanyama. This was a coup of a trade, including Chicago only made it better, and the Spurs front office should be applauded for handling this so well.

Grade: A