BBNBA Player of the Week: De'Aaron Fox is reviving Sacramento

(Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

Not only was De’Aaron Fox the best ‘Cat in the NBA this past week. You could argue he was the best player in the entire league over the past seven days.

Fox and the Sacramento Kings played four games this past week and went 4-0. Here were Fox’s numbers in each of the wins:

March 22 @ Cleveland: 30 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals.

March 24 vs. Atlanta: 37 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals

March 25 vs. Golden State: 44 points (career-high), 2 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals

March 27 vs. Cleveland: 36 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks and this hail mary throw on the game-winner:

That comes out to week-long averages of 36.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2 steals per game.

36.8 points led the NBA over the last seven days, his team posted the fourth-highest net rating over that stretch per NBA.com, and the Kings are back in the playoff picture. At 21-25, Sacramento is just a game behind Golden State for the 10th seed and last spot in the play-in games in the West.

On the season Fox’s recent hot stretch has raised his per-game scoring average above 24 points to nearly 25, a career mark, and he’s shooting the best he ever has from the field while his three-point percentage continues to creep up into the mid-thirties.

All this individual success is thrilling, but it’s the performance of the Kings as a whole that’s more meaningful. The franchise hasn’t made the playoffs since 2006 and with the extended play-in game format, they finally has the chance to play postseason basketball after a decade-and-a-half long drought. De’Aaron Fox is at the center of that effort.

He won’t continue to score 36 points a game, but can he consistently score 25 efficiently while distributing like a true one? Seems like it.

Plus, the trade deadline has passed and the team is virtually set in stone. Before the deadline, Sacramento was pegged as a team that might sell off some of its pieces instead of bearing down for a run at the postseason. Two prominent names, and good players, Harrison Barnes and Buddy Hield were at the center of several rumors, but neither were dealt.

Now, with a fully-committed–and talented enough–team around him, can Fox finally lead the bedeviled Kings back to the playoffs? It’s possible.

What a week for De’Aaron Fox. Check out some of his ridiculous performances over the past seven days:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn6ubH0K7L8