Max deal keeps Fox with Kings
On the first night of free agency, De’Aaron Fox was the first big winner.
Actually, it’s more like huge, as in $163 million — or even more.
Fox and the Sacramento Kings agreed on a max deal Friday night, agent Chris Gaston said. It’s a five-year pact that will pay Fox $163 million, and that figure could rise to nearly $200 million if Fox makes an All-NBA team or receives other league honors. Fox’s extension will kick in for the 2021-22 season and start at $28.1 million.
Fox’s numbers have improved in each of his three NBA seasons. He averaged 11.6 points as a rookie, then 17.3 points two seasons ago and finally 21.1 points last season for the Kings. His field- goal percentage has also risen each of the past two seasons.
Free agency opened in the NBA on Friday at 6 p.m. Eastern. No deals can be signed until 12: 01 p. m. Sunday, and many of the biggest available names — such as the Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis and Fred VanVleet, whose star has risen meteorically with the Toronto Raptors — did not reveal immediate decisions on their futures.
Davis is expected to remain with the reigning NBA champions; the question there is how the new deal will be structured. VanVleet is expected to command at least $80 million over the next four seasons, if not more, and the Raptors have made clear they would like to keep the undrafted guard who became a huge part of their run to the NBA title in 2019.
The Miami Heat, who lost the NBA Finals this past summer but took the Lakers to six games despite being shorthanded due to injuries, got quick agreements from point guard Goran Dragic and center Meyers Leonard on two-year deals, the second year in both cases being team options. Dragic will make about $ 18 million next season, Leonard about $9 million.
Dragic flew back to Miami from his native Slovenia on Friday and intends to sign his new contract quickly. He said the fact the Heat will have much of its roster back from the 201920 season was particularly important to him.
“This is a family here,” Dragic said. “We know we have a good team. We know we have chemistry. We have unfinished business.”
In Philadelphia, 34-year-old center Dwight Howard, who played for the Lakers this past season, is going to join the 76ers on a one-year deal worth the veteran’s minimum of $2.6 million, agent Charles Briscoe told AP. The Atlanta native has played for the Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets, Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards and the Lakers twice in a well-traveled career.
The Atlanta Hawks were one of the teams that entered free agency with considerable salary cap space, and they have been looking for veteran talent to add to the group that includes young standouts Trae Young and Kevin Huerter.
Danilo Gallinari — one of the top wings on the free- agent market — agreed with the Hawks to a three- year contract worth $ 61.5 million, a person with knowledge of the agreement told the AP. ESPN and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported the agreement.
Gallinari averaged 18.7 points for the Oklahoma City Thunder last season and is a 38% career shooter from 3-point range. The 32-year-old Italian has also played with the New York Knicks, who drafted him sixth overall in 2008,the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Clippers.