Nets targeting Kings’ De’Aaron Fox as star hits market with NBA trade deadline nearing

With De’Aaron Fox now gettable, the Nets are expected to be one of a host of teams trying to go and get him. 

But just how badly do they want him? And does he want them at all? 

Sacramento, where Jordi Fernandez was the associate head coach from 2022-24, is expected to open up talks to move Fox before the Feb. 6 trade deadline, according to ESPN.

Fox immediately supplants Jimmy Butler atop the list of available game-changers, and Brooklyn sees the Kings guard as a trade target — though sources tell The Post that Giannis Antetokounmpo is still the ultimate prize. 

Point guard has been a problem since Kyrie Irving left, with even their spells of solid play coming from stopgaps like Dennis Schroder. A 27-year-old All-Star, Fox would change all that. 

Still, a host of teams are expected to flood the Kings with offers for Fox. And the point guard himself — along with agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports — already has a preferred destination in mind, per ESPN. 

Sources that spoke with The Post have said since last month that the perception around league circles is that San Antonio is a leader in the clubhouse. 

In short, Brooklyn would have its work cut out to 1) outbid the other suitors, and 2) persuade Fox, who can become an unrestricted free agent in 2026. 

But for the first, they lead the entire league in future first-round draft picks at 15, a dozen of which are tradeable and four of which are in the June 25 NBA Draft. 

And for the second, they have Fernandez. 

“I think he’s going to be a hell of a head coach, for sure,” Fox said when Fernandez took the Brooklyn job. 

The pair shared a warm embrace when the Nets and Kings met. Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks told The Post that he’ll certainly listen to Fernandez’s suggestions on player acquisitions. 

“I look at the coaching staff and the front office — that relationship and that dynamic — as a partnership,” Marks told The Post. “I should rely on them, because their experiences and their interactions with players — whether it’s from other teams or just being on the court — they’re up close.” 

Fernandez brought a number of Kings with him, Dutch Gaitley and Deividas Dulkys now on staff. Both would be friendly, familiar faces for Fox. 

The guard is under contract next season at $37.1 million, and eligible for a four-year, $229 extension this summer. 

But money isn’t the real question for Marks and Nets owner Joe Tsai. 

The Nets must gauge if Antetokounmpo — whom The Post has reported is still their white whale — will ever become available, and if they’re prepared to wait. 

“Brooklyn is still holding out for Giannis,” a source told The Post. 

The Nets must discern whether they can win a bidding war for Fox. If so, can it be done expending few enough assets that 1) they could still make a competitive offer should the Bucks ever decide to move Antetokounmpo, and 2) they would have enough of a team left that the former MVP would even want to come to Brooklyn. 

If they can do all that, Fox might be a drawing card for Antetokounmpo. There’s a lot to like about his 25.2 points, 6.2 assists and five rebounds. 

That’s the calculus they’ll try to figure out, as they protect their assets and flexibility. 

“You have to be poised and position yourself to be able to have that opportunity [to add a star],” Marks told The 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.”