Over the past decade, we’ve watched NBA salaries balloon to astronomical heights. As a reminder, Michael Jordan made about $94 million in salary during his entire 15-year NBA career; today, some players can earn that in two seasons. It’s making many guys more confident during negotiations, including Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox.
Fox is entering the fourth season of a five-year contract worth $163 million. Per ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Kings offered Fox a maximum three-year, $165 million contract extension. And he turned it down.
That’s a shocking amount of money to reject. Is Fox upset with the way the organization is treating him? Does he not believe the Kings can be successful?
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It’s actually a completely different reason: Fox is reportedly happy in Sacramento—he’s simply betting on himself. By not signing now, he’s eligible for a four-year, $229 million contract next offseason. If he makes an All-NBA team this year, that number balloons to $345 million over five years.
Fox is feeling confident because he’s coming off a terrific season. He led the league in steals and posted career-highs in points per game (26.6), steals per game (2.0), and three-pointers made per game (2.9). His 37% field goal percentage is his highest since the 2018-19 season.
He’s banking on a return to that elite play in 2024-25, which could be good enough to earn All-NBA honors again. He was All-NBA Third Team in 2023; doing it for a second time this year makes him eligible for a supermax contract.
Would reaching All-NBA status mean the Kings automatically give Fox that much money, which would be an NBA record if it were signed today? Not necessarily, but Sacramento is not typically a free agent destination and Fox is the team’s star player. He’d have a lot of leverage going into negotiations to get very close to that amount, if not the whole thing.
We’ve seen point guards in similar situations take different approaches. Jalen Brunson opted for a four-year, $156.5 million contract extension to remain with the New York Knicks. He gave up the potential for a larger contract for financial security now, while also setting himself up for another nice pay day in four years, when he can sign an even larger contract.
On the opposite end of the coin, Isaiah Thomas reportedly turned down a three-year, $100 million offer from the Boston Celtics after coming off a career year. He expected the Celtics to “back up the Brinks truck” with a deal that could have reached close to $200 million over five years.
Instead, the Celtics traded Thomas, who injured his hip during those playoffs, to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He played 15 games there before Cleveland traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he required additional hip surgery. The following summer, Thomas signed a one-year, $2 million deal with the Denver Nuggets—a far cry from what he was hoping for just one season earlier.
Fox is betting on himself this season to potentially more than double his money. He just needs to stay healthy and keep playing at a star level. If everything works out, he’ll end up being one of the highest-paid players in the league.