Latest De'Aaron Fox revelation could give Spurs serious pause in pursuit

The De'Aaron Fox saga just took another interesting yet dramatic turn, but which way the train has veered is unclear. The Kings—for reasons known only to them—fired former Coach of the Year Mike Brown after the slow start to the season despite their issues being based on roster construction.

Several head coaches around the league spoke out in support of Mike Brown, but he reportedly had issues with star players on the team, and that's at least part of the reason the front office let him go, according to 17-year NBA veteran Lou Williams.

If Fox has issue with criticism, he may not be able to handle Coach Pop

There are some alarming things about this report if it's true. If Fox is constantly being singled out for mistakes, he is making too many. Brown is a good coach and wouldn't call out his star without a good reason. And if the coach criticizes a player, you would hope that the player would accept it gracefully, especially as a leader of the team.

To be fair to Fox, he took to social media to dispute the claim that he ever pushed back on Brown's critiques. "There was never any push back about anything. This narrative of us butting heads or me going to management saying anything is bulls---. So you can run with that if you want to." - De'Aaron Fox via X

What he didn't dispute was the part about being called out often by his head coach. Williams isn't a long-tenured NBA insider, but with his experience around the league, it's hard to see why he would lie. But there's always a chance he received incomplete information.

Either way, the Spurs, as always, will have to make sure they do their due diligence to make sure that if a trade becomes possible, they're not acquiring a hardheaded player with low leadership intangibles. Not every star player is a leader, but you can't be a net negative on that side, either. A willingness to be coached is essential to building a championship team, but you can't teach that.

For a quick recap, Fox declined an extension in the offseason because he wants to ensure the organization is headed toward winning. The Kings then traded for DeMar DeRozan, but it hasn't worked out, and Sacramento has been losing at an alarming rate, prompting trade speculation.

NBA experts believe Fox may be available by the trade deadline on February 6, so the rumors about who is interested in the lightning-fast point guard have been swirling, and the Spurs' name has been one of the first mentioned from the start.

San Antonio has the assets to make a trade happen, and they're in the market for a star to pair with Victor Wembanyama. Doug Christie took over as interim head coach for the Kings, and they had just won their first game in almost two weeks, but it was against a compromised Mavericks team. If they can't turn things around, the prospect of moving Fox may become a reality the Spurs would be happy to oblige.