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BBNBA: Fox teams up with Wemby, Booker makes history, and Sheppard's best game yet

Zack Geogheganby:Zack Geoghegan•about 10 hours•

ZGeogheganKSR

De'Aaron Fox - Bill Streicher, Imagn Images
De'Aaron Fox - Bill Streicher, Imagn Images

The NBA’s annual trade deadline is almost here. We’ve already seen a handful of blockbuster deals over the last several days, including a couple of former Kentucky Wildcats on the move. Most notably, Anthony Davis is headed to the Dallas Mavericks after being traded from the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Luka Doncic. It’s a trade that didn’t make sense to me, from the Mavericks’ perspective, when it happened on Saturday night, and it makes even less sense a few days later.

But I digress. This year’s trade deadline has brought all the juicy news and slop we NBA fans crave — and we still have almost a full day until the actual deadline at 3:00 p.m. EST on Thursday. Rumors of Kevin Durant on the trade block continue to grow. What does that mean for his teammate, Devin Booker? What happens with Jimmy Butler in Miami? Could LeBron James actually request out of Los Angeles, even with Doncic in the fold?

Is there another unexpected blockbuster deal in store? I’ll be begging for it over the course of the next 24-ish hours. But in the meantime, plenty of recent headlines have been made in the Association by multiple Kentucky alums. We’re recapping all of them in our BBNBA mid-week recap.

De’Aaron Fox returns to Texas

A graduate of Cypress Lakes High School in Katy, TX, one-time NBA All-Star De’Aaron Fox is returning to the Lone Star State. A massive deal reported on Sunday is shipping Fox from the Sacramento Kings to the San Antonio Spurs where he’ll team up with the future face of the league, Victor Wembanyama.

Fox, 27, is averaging 25.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 1.5 steals in 37.0 minutes per game this season on .469/.322/.829 shooting splits. He’d spent his entire eight-year NBA career with the Kings, but his time in Sacramento ran its course (as has been the case with every good player who comes through that franchise). With Fox now paired next to Wemby, the Spurs (which somehow gave up very little to make this deal happen) could be on the cusp of forming another dynastic run.

The former Kentucky point guard isn’t a great shooter, but he’s no longer an opposing offense’s primary focus. Wemby is going to attract all the eyes and then some. This isn’t going to be like playing next to Domantas Sabonis like he was with the Kings. Fox will benefit even more from playing with a superstar like the France native. He’ll also learn alongside future Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul. Fox is locked into his current contract through the 2025-26 season. If this duo works well, a huge extension is headed his way.

Fox will make his debut with the Spurs tonight (Wednesday) against the Atlanta Hawks. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. EST on ESPN.

Booker is the Suns all-time leading scorer

Devin Booker permanently etched his name in the history books as the Phoenix Suns’ all-time leading scorer on Monday. After knocking down a 3-pointer with 7:34 to go in the third quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers, the superstar guard broke the record previously set by Walter Davis with 15,666 points. Booker scored 34 total to give him 15,678 for his 10-year career in 642 total games.

The best part? His record-breaking bucket came off an assist from Nick Richards. These are the things we love to see.

Sheppard finally has his moment — but in a weird loss

Setting aside his wardrobe from Saturday night’s game, Houston Rockets rookie Reed Sheppard was finally able to play some NBA basketball this week. He was on the court for a season-high 28 minutes on Tuesday night against the Brooklyn Nets. With Fred VanVleet out, Sheppard was inserted into the rotation off the bench. The former ‘Cat recorded a season-high 16 points, seven rebounds, two steals, and two blocks on 5-14 shooting (3-9 3PT).

But the Rockets lost this game 99-97 despite leading by four with 10 seconds to go. Keon Johnson hit a three-pointer that cut Houston’s lead to one with seven ticks on the clock. Amen Thompson then threw an errant inbound pass that fell right to a wide-open D’Angelo Russell for the go-ahead three-pointer, which he drained with just 3.4 seconds in the game. Jalen Green missed the buzzer-beating three as the Rockets chocked this one away.

At least Sheppard wasn’t in for this segment…

Justin Edwards is looking like a real NBA player

John Calipari said Justin Edwards would end up being a good NBA player after he went undrafted over the summer. Due to a series of injuries to the Philadelphia 76ers roster, Edwards might already be there. He’s become a regular rotational player for the 76ers and is a legitimately good basketball player as a 21-year-old rookie.

Take this week, for example. Edwards finished with 12 points and seven rebounds in a season-high 44 minutes during an eight-point loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday. He followed that up with 16 points (4-9 3PT), two rebounds, and two assists in a two-point win over the Mavericks on Tuesday. Since Jan. 4, Edwards has started five of 16 contests for Philly with per-game averages of 9.4 points and 3.7 rebounds on 46.7 percent shooting and 38.7 percent shooting from deep.

Currently on a two-way deal, it might be time to give the former ‘Cat a full-time NBA contract.

PJ Washington welcomes his son to the world

PJ Washington has missed a couple of games for the (new-look) Mavericks this week, but for good reason. He and his wife, Alisah Chanel, welcomed the birth of their second son.

A new baby and a new teammate in Anthony Davis? It’s been quite the few-day stretch for Washington. Congrats to him and his family.

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2025-02-05