The San Antonio Spurs have remained steadfast that they don’t want to trade away De’Aaron Fox. They aren’t just saying that to keep their star point guard happy, either.
Some fans only remember the NBA Finals, where Fox was, admittedly, terrible. However, there’s a very strong argument to be made that they wouldn’t have even made it that far without him. Does a young, turnover-prone backcourt of Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper run through the West? Probably not.
With the Finals fresh in everyone’s mind and Fox about to start a four-year maximum contract, his trade value has never been lower. Some vocal fans don’t want Fox in San Antonio anymore, but the counter to that is simple: if you don’t want him, why should anyone else take him?
The Spurs will have to trade him eventually. By the last year of Fox’s contract, the Spurs will have extended Castle and Harper, as well as Victor Wembanyama. There won’t be enough money to keep all four in town.
Hopefully, Fox can return to form, and he can recoup some value.
What Could Spurs Get For De’Aaron Fox?
Despite what fans might remember, Fox was an All-Star last season. An injury replacement, sure, but an All-Star nonetheless. Had he improved in the postseason, win or lose, the Spurs would not be urged to trade him.
He’d be a hero!
Hero or not, though, the clock is ticking. Those extensions, especially Harper’s, will kick in. So if Fox returns to form and proves that the 2026 Finals were a fluke–not the norm–what could the Spurs get for him?
I asked SI’s Matt Guzman exactly that.
“He’s making about the same money as Cade Cunningham, Mobley, Jamal Murray, Bam Adebayo, Luka Doncic,” Guzman explained. “I don’t think there’s going to be a market for Fox this time next season the way that there would be for Anthony Edwards or Luka Doncic. That said, it doesn’t mean that teams wouldn’t be interested.”
A player like Edwards would fetch a historic package if he were ever made available. Doncic would, too, despite Nico Harrison showing otherwise. Fox, despite his salary, wouldn’t quite fetch that. And the Spurs would have to be picky about what they take back.
“I do think if you were trying to move on from Fox a year from now, which I want to be clear, the Spurs are not going to want to do…You’re definitely going to be getting youth from a team who wants to maybe accelerate their timeline a little bit,” Guzman added. “You’re probably going to be looking for expiring deals.”
Expiring or team-friendly deals are key. The only reason the Spurs would want to trade Fox away is to make financial room for Harper and Castle, and long-term contracts are simply counterintuitive.
But if the Spurs could get a promising young guy, an expiring contract, and a single first-round draft pick, that would be a net positive. Of course, Fox’s play next year will determine his value, and if he does better than expected, the Spurs don’t have to trade him away…yet.
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