Adding Fox boosts Spurs' playoff, championship odds

A wild weekend in the NBA continued Sunday night when the Spurs acquired De'Aaron Fox from the Kings. Fox established San Antonio as his preferred landing spot last week, and the Spurs made it happen without giving up their young core in a three-team trade.

The details of the deal are as follows:

The Spurs now pair Fox with second-year sensation Victor Wembanyama, who earned an All-Star selection in his sophomore season and is the overwhelming favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year. Fox is averaging 25 points, 6.1 assists, and five rebounds.

San Antonio pulled off a heist by acquiring an All-Star-level talent without losing key young pieces such as Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, or Jeremy Sochan. That's a win for their outlook this season and beyond, as Fox is expected to sign a long-term extension.

However, the Spurs still face a challenging path to the postseason: They sit 12th in the West at 21-15. They're two games out of the play-in and 5.5 games back of the 6-seed, but oddsmakers give them a better chance with Fox. The Spurs' odds of making the postseason went from +700 to +380, increasing their implied probability of qualifying from 12% to 20%.

Their odds of winning the West shortened from +12500 to +10000 and their championship odds moved from +20000 to +15000. Those will continue shrinking as Fox and Wembanyama build chemistry and the Spurs add complementary pieces in the upcoming years.

Players don't typically request to play in San Antonio, but Wembanyama himself is a destination. Fox and Wembanyama should be a dominant pick-and-roll duo. The point guard is by far the most talented player Wembanyama has played with in his young career; he's never had an explosive downhill scorer who can create for himself. The Spurs rank 19th in clutch offense. Fox won Clutch Player of the Year in 2023, which should help in that department.

Although the one-time All-Star isn't a franchise-altering sensation, he's one of the league's 25 best players. Playing alongside Wemby will elevate Fox's game, and Fox will have a similar effect on his teammate. One of the Spurs' problems is the way they implode when their French phenom is on the bench. San Antonio is 12.3 points per 100 possessions worse when Wembanyama is off the floor. The Spurs can now implement Fox in non-Wemby lineups, which should help keep them afloat when the big man sits.

The Kings' chances of competing, meanwhile, took a hit when they traded away Fox. They were already long shots to win the West before the trade but moved from +6000 to +6600. As the 10th seed in the West at 24-24, Sacramento was +210 to make the postseason before the trade and is now +300.

Sacramento landed Zach LaVine from the Bulls in the deal, and he's having a solid season, averaging 24 points per game on 44% shooting from three. However, the Kings have a ton of guards, and Chicago already rolled out the LaVine and DeMar DeRozan pairing without much success.

Championship odds among Western Conference teams have been jumbled in the last two days following the Luka Doncic trade and the Fox deal. With the trade deadline days away, the oddsboard could keep shuffling.

Sam Oshtry is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on X @soshtry for more betting coverage.