De’Aaron Fox had a touching thank you message for longtime teammate Harrison Barnes.
Taking to his Instagram stories on Thursday, Fox posted a series of pictures with Barnes featuring a heartwarming caption wishing his former teammate the best on the San Antonio Spurs.
“6 years together,” Fox said. “Appreciate you through it all, San Antonio’s getting a good one.”
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Barnes was traded to the Spurs as part of the DeMar DeRozan sign-and-trade, ending a six-year stint with Sacramento.
NBA
During that time, the Kings underwent a major rebuilding, trading for Domantas Sabonis and hiring Mike Brown as head coach, leading to Sacramento turning into a playoff-caliber franchise after years of languishing in the basement of the Western Conference.
To make the deal work, Barnes waived his trade kicker from the three-year, $58 million contract he signed with the Kings last summer. The move puts Barnes with the Spurs, who feature budding superstar and 2023-24 NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama along with a solid young core. The addition of the 12-year veteran and point guard Chris Paul will give San Antonio a wealth of experience surrounding Wembanyama.
Barnes will be remembered in Sacramento for helping the franchise end its 17-year playoff drought in 2023 and returning the team to relevancy.
Now, Fox, Sabonis and DeRozan will look to take the Kings into the upper echelon of the Western Conference and win a playoff series for the first time since 2004.