De’Aaron Fox – Superpower Yet to Be Unlocked

November 18, 2023

Good morning Kings fans. What a morning to wake up to. The Kings have won 5 in a row, De’Aaron Fox is leading the league in scoring with 32.2 Points per game, and the Kings are leading their division and sit at 5th in the crowded Western Conference. While we are all riding the high of Fox going off for 43 Points on national television, I sit and warn you, the best of Fox may be yet to come. You heard that right, the 32.2 Point per game scorer has a superpower that he has yet to unleash on the league this year, and once he does, could very well be on his way to an award winning season.

What makes Fox so special is his ability to score in so many different ways and levels on the court. This year he’s shooting 8.3 3’s per game and making them at a 38.0% clip, both of which are career highs. The higher volume and accuracy from deep has unlocked a part of his game that fans and media have been saying for years. If Fox can improve as a 3-point shooter, he’ll be nearly unguardable. And unguardable he has become with his improved shooting.

But even with all of his success this year, there is an area that he has excelled in in the past that he hasn’t hit his stride yet this year, and that’s scoring at the rim. Fox is shooting just 55.6% in the Restricted-Area, making 15 of his 27 attempts at the rim. Last year De’Aaron shot an absurd 76.5% in the Restricted-Area, tied for 15th highest in the league (min 100 attempts). For reference that was higher than centers Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Joel Embiid.

The fact that Fox has been able to reach this level of scoring in such a consistent manner without making his bread and butter shots at the rim is astounding, and shows he has a clear path for even more improvement. Part of it may be due to his ankle, or maybe early season rust, but I don’t expect Fox to stay in the 50% range at the rim for long. If he’s able to continue hitting his 3’s at this rate, AND get back to his ways of finishing in traffic like last year? Look out NBA.