SACRAMENTO >> De’Aaron Fox cleared up one rumor regarding a reported meeting with Kings owner Vivek Ranadive as trade winds continued to swirl around him Saturday in Oklahoma City.

Citing unnamed sources, News 4 San Antonio’s Dusty Garza tweeted Thursday that Ranadive was flying to Oklahoma City for a sit-down dinner with Fox, adding: “I’m told he’s on a mission to convince Fox to stay in Sacramento.”

Fox said that meeting never took place when asked about it following the team’s morning shootaround as the Kings prepared to face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night at Paycom Center.

“That wasn’t true,” Fox told The Sacramento Bee. “I haven’t talked to Vivek.”

The Kings opened trade talks for Fox earlier in the week with the San Antonio Spurs widely believed to be his preferred destination. Those talks are likely to intensify with Thursday’s NBA trade deadline fast approaching.

After almost eight seasons in Sacramento, Fox admitted that all the speculation has weighed on him to some extent.

“Yeah, but change happens,” Fox said. “Things happen in this league, but when I step on the court, all I’m thinking about is performing well and helping my team win.”

Kings guard Malik Monk, Fox’s childhood friend and a Kentucky teammate, said he is grateful for the opportunity to play with Fox the past three seasons in Sacramento.

“To share the court with him finally five, six years after college has been great,” Monk said. “He’s been my friend before that and he’ll be my friend after that. We don’t talk about basketball. That’s why we’ve been so close. We never talk about this basketball stuff because we know there’s a bigger world out there.”

Kings center Domantas Sabonis said Fox is carrying himself as he always does.

“He’s a professional,” Sabonis said. “He’s coming in, he’s working hard, doesn’t talk about it. I know tonight when we go out there, he’s going to compete 100 percent, so we’re just focused on our team.”

Sabonis said interim coach Doug Christie is trying to make sure trade talks don’t become a distraction.

“It’s noise,” Sabonis said. “I don’t think a lot of us are paying attention to the media as much. We don’t talk about it in the locker room. We’re just focused on winning, and Doug’s making sure we ignore that.

“This is my ninth year in the league. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. It’s going to pop up on our phones. There’s no point in looking at it every second.”