Nets' De'Aaron Fox trade interest highlights exciting rebuild flexibility

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With Sacramento Kings star De’Aaron Fox available before the trade deadline, the Brooklyn Nets are among the teams that could be in the mix. After trading Mikal Bridges this summer, the Nets have the capital — a league-leading 15 first-round picks over the next seven years — to pursue any star they choose.

However, does a Fox move make sense less than one year into a rebuild?

It’s a tough sell at this early juncture. While Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez — who led Sacramento’s offensive resurgence in 2022-23 — is familiar with Fox, the Kings star has a preferred destination in mind, per ESPN. League circles believe that team is the San Antonio Spurs, where the All-Star guard would pair with Victor Wembanyama.

Fox will be a free agent in 2026 and is eligible for a four-year, $229 extension this summer. Any team that trades for him at the deadline must surrender significant assets and attempt to convince him to re-sign. While such a move isn’t out of the cards for the Nets, it’s unlikely, with the team tanking for a top draft selection during the second half of this season.

If the Kings hold onto Fox, the Nets will likely revisit the idea in the offseason, especially if they gather intel that he would be open to re-signing. While a trade in the next week is unlikely, Brooklyn’s interest in the Sacramento floor general highlights the team’s exciting rebuild flexibility.

Nets’ De’Aaron Fox interest underscores immense rebuild optionality

Following the Bridges trade, the Nets’ last seven months have been about maximizing flexibility.

"We’ll be strategic in how we continue to build," general manager Sean Marks said after making the Bridges deal. "This time, we can build through the cap space that we’ll have, and also, it’s a new CBA. So I think that affects everybody a little differently, and I think having flexibility moving into this new CBA, nobody’s quite sure how it’s going to be. I mean, you look at the free agency right now and how it’s affecting different teams. So for us to maintain that flexibility into the season is important."

That flexibility is geared toward landing a marquee player who can lead a contender. NBA teams have three avenues to acquire such talent: the draft, trades and free agency.

Brooklyn has each available as it embarks on its rebuild.

After regaining control of their 2025 and 2026 first-round picks from the Houston Rockets, the Nets can tank for a top selection in two highly-regarded drafts. But with 12 tradable first-round picks and a projected $65 million in cap space this summer, both tops in the league, they can pivot if a star of their liking becomes available.

While Fox is worthy of consideration, league executives have long believed Brooklyn is holding out for Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Bucks have rebounded from a rough start and sit fourth in the Eastern Conference standings.

However, with few avenues to upgrade an aging roster, it’s unclear where Antetokounmpo stands with the organization long-term.

"You have to be poised and position yourself to be able to have that opportunity [to add a star]," Marks told The New York Post last month. "We're going to give ourselves the best chance to do that. Now, on whom and when, that's TBD… But when we took over [in 2016], it was three or four seasons before we were able to say, 'Hey, we've all of a sudden got a team that's now able to contend. It's a playoff team.' … We fell short, we didn't come close. So the goal now is to be able to do it again, build it up and try and and have another hit at it."

Brooklyn is playing the star waiting game. In the meantime, a 2-15 stretch has the Nets within striking distance of top draft lottery odds and a chance to select Duke star Cooper Flagg.

While they may eventually have to choose between building through the draft or trading for a star, such optionality is a problem every front office would sign up for.

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