As the Sacramento Kings take on the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night, it will look a bit different with the recent blockbuster trade. Now former Kings star De'Aaron Fox was dealt to the San Antonio Spurs as general manager Monte McNair spoke to the media Wednesday about the trade.

One of the simple questions McNair was asked included the reasoning behind trading away one of their franchise stars in Fox which the general manager in his words. McNair would say that the team looked into avenues to keep Fox, but it didn't seem likely with the deadline approaching Thursday afternoon, so they “moved on” according to Brenden Nunes.

“We did explore ways to have De'Aaron stay here and it was made clear that wasn't going to happen. So, we moved on,” McNair said.

“The way that it was very public, that made for a unique market, but I also think our group did a great job of cultivating a market to ultimately get what we wanted in return,” McNair continued later. “We were not going to settle for less than we wanted. So, when we got that we made the deal.”

Kings GM Monte McNair on “no pathway” for De'Aaron Fox staying 

Sacramento Kings guard De'Aaron Fox warms up before a game against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center.
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In return on top of the three first-round picks, three second-round picks, and Sidy Cissoko, the Kings got former Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine, as the deal involved multiple teams. For McNair, he would say during his press conference that a future with a long-time commitment to Fox wasn't possible.

“With a year and a half left, we decided, with the public and private indications, that this was time to at least explore the market,” McNair said.

“There was no pathway to a long term agreement,” McNair continued.

It had been reported that the former Kings guard had the Spurs as his preferred destination as he got his wish right before this trade deadline. However, the contract extension had been an interesting topic as Fox said back in October that he's “in no rush” for the commitment.

“For one, I’m in no rush,” Fox said via The Athletic. “For two, I just want to make sure where we’re at because people have seen the league — like, turnover of a team can happen in the matter of a month or two or six months. I mean, if we were contending for a championship, (it might be different). Like, obviously, (the Boston Celtics’) Jayson (Tatum) just won a championship, or (the Miami Heat’s) Bam (Adebayo), who has been to the finals twice. I’m just using people who are in my class (who have signed extensions). They’ve already kind of been through that, done that. So yeah, they have that security of (having done) that. For me, obviously, we’re continuing to build.”

Sacramento is currently 25-24 which puts them eighth in the Western Conference as they face Orlando on Wednesday as a new era starts.