Report: De’Aaron Fox to visit Sixers on Saturday

By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor

The Philadelphia 76ers are hosting Kentucky guard Malik Monk for a pre-draft workout on Thursday and according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, they will host his teammate, De'Aaron Fox, for a workout on Saturday. Fox worked out for the Lakers on Tuesday.

Fox doesn't seem to be a great fit for the Sixers at the no. 3 overall pick as his offensive skillset leaves much to be desired and his primary position is point guard, a spot that is going to be occupied by 2016 number one pick Ben Simmons. Fox does have very impressive explosiveness as college defenders had plenty of issues staying in front of him with the speed he offers and his leaping ability on offense. His height makes him hard to defend for other points guards, but his lanky frame is concerning at the NBA level.

The big concern of Fox's game is his mid-range and long-range shooting ability. He shot just 24.6 percent from beyond the arc and his shot form is somewhat worrisome in terms of transitioning to the NBA. Here's a portion of his scouting profile from DraftExpress, focusing on his lack of offensive upside with the mid-range game.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle for Fox in his transition to the pros is his lack of consistent jump shooting ability. Shooting the ball with an unreliable release point that comes from the side of his head with a small arm angle, the Cy-Lakes High School (TX) product had an uneven year shooting the ball, making just 31% of his pull-up jumpers, and 20% of his spot up attempts in the half court this season, but connected on a far more respectable 55% and 36% of those attempts respectively in the month of March. 

Defensively, Fox would be a good asset as he is active with his hands while guarding the ball and has impressive lateral quickness and anticipation. He does have some areas to improve on though as he sometimes struggles to fight through the pick-and-roll and guard bigger players than him with his small frame.

Fox mentioned that he would love to play alongside Ben Simmons, but his lack of perimeter shooting makes him a questionable choice at the third overall pick in next week's draft for the Sixers. The Sacramento Kings are said to have a lot of interest in Fox, so there has been some thought from the fan base that Philadelphia could trade down and strike a deal with the Kings that could land the no. 5 and no. 10 overall pick for the Sixers. 

 

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