MVP? Sacramento Kings are No. 1 in NBA in scoring with De’Aaron Fox and 30th without him

De’Aaron Fox was serenaded with M-V-P chants when he stepped to the free-throw line to close out the Cleveland Cavaliers late in the fourth quarter Monday at Golden 1 Center.

That wasn’t the first time Fox was the subject of MVP talk that night as the 25-year-old point guard made his return to the lineup after missing five games with a right ankle sprain. The Kings were No. 1 in the NBA in scoring before Fox went down with the injury, averaging 125.3 points per game. They were 30^th without him, scoring just 102.6 points per game.

Kings coach Mike Brown and Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff were asked before the game if they thought Fox was beginning to emerge as a player who could become a leading candidate for the NBA MVP award. Both coaches agreed Fox has the talent, tools and traits to become a viable contender for the league’s most prestigious individual award.

“No doubt,” Brown said. “He’s that caliber of player. His play and our play are going to start getting him the recognition that he deserves, but I’m telling you, the crazy part about it is he’s just scratching the surface of who he can be. When he gets there, look out everybody.”

Fox was an All-Star and an All-NBA Third Team selection for the first time after helping Sacramento win 48 games last season. The Kings secured the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, ending the longest playoff drought in NBA history after 16 consecutive losing seasons.

Fox averaged 25.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 6.1 assists. He won the inaugural Jerry West Clutch Player of the Year award after finishing second in the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring.

Fox finished 11^th in MVP voting last season, but he could move up that list if the Kings can build on last season’s success.

“He’s a gamechanger,” Bickerstaff said. “Not just the tempo alone, but his ability to get in the paint and make everybody better from there. All these guys, the league is blessed to be in the position they’re in. You go through the point guards and the guards that are in this league and the amount of talent that’s there, and the way the game is being played with the space on the floor to give those guys an opportunity to do their thing, but there’s no reason why (Fox) can’t ascend to that.

“You watch and you listen to his teammates and you listen to his coaches, and the MVP to me is more than just about your play on the court. The MVP is also about how you make your teammates feel, how you bear the burden of the load and the responsibility to make everybody around you better, and the only thing that I’ve ever seen or heard about De’Aaron is extremely positive things about that as well, so hats off to guys like that. You appreciate that and respect that in the game of basketball — people who work, who care about the game, who pass the game on, and De’Aaron seems to be one of those guys.”

Fox came out of Kentucky as the No. 5 pick in the 2017 NBA draft. He developed his game in relative anonymity over the first three seasons before averaging a career-high 25.2 points and 7.2 assists in 2020-21. Losing took a toll on Fox over his first five NBA seasons, but help was on the way.

The Kings hired general manager Monte McNair, drafted Tyrese Haliburton, traded for Domantas Sabonis, drafted Keegan Murray and then signed Malik Monk, Fox’s childhood friend and former Kentucky teammate, as a free agent. Then there were two more key acquisitions. Fox married Recee Caldwell, another former college point guard, and together they welcomed their first child into the world on Feb. 3, about two weeks before Fox made his first All-Star appearance.

Fox described his life like “something out of a movie.”

The Kings hope the sequel will be even better. Fox is certainly playing his part, averaging 30.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 50% from the field and 36.7% from 3-point range.

Last season, the Kings led the league in scoring and set a record with the highest offensive rating in NBA history. They picked up where they left off this season, scoring 130, 114 and 132 points in their first three games, but then they lost Fox. In the five games he missed due to injury, the Kings scored 101, 89, 97, 121 and 105 points. The only big number during that stretch came in an overtime win over a depleted Portland Trail Blazers squad.

The Kings returned to full strength when Fox returned to supercharge their offense Monday night. They scored 33 points in the first quarter, 35 in the second and 42 in the third. They shot 59% from the field and 47.6% from 3-point range, scoring 130 points for the third time in four games with Fox in the lineup.

“When you have another superstar on the court, it makes everything way easier,” Sabonis said. “Just by having him on the court, he opens up everything. Guys are scared of his drive. Guys are scared of his shot. It just opens things up for everyone, so if both of us can be on the court, I feel that’s really beneficial.”

Brown pointed to Fox’s supporting cast when asked about his chances of becoming an MVP candidate.

“He’s got everything physically that somebody in that stratosphere needs to have,” Brown said. “On top of that, he wants to be the best and he’s got the right people around him, starting with his wife. You need a great support system in my opinion to be able to hover in that category and that area. I truly believe he wants it. His teammates want it for him. His coaches do, too.

“Last year, he was trying to figure out which path to go to try to get there while trying to establish a winning environment here in Sacramento. Now, I think he said, ‘OK, this is the direction I need to go,’ so he’s just starting to scratch the surface of that, and I tell you what, the sky’s the limit. His 3 ball is looking really good. He’s one of the best finishers at the rim and the mid-range, and, defensively, he’s starting to understand that he’s got to put it together for 48 minutes in order to be on the level you’re talking about. So, I do, I think he can be there for sure.”