Despite the offseason rumors and ire from fans, the San Antonio Spurs will not be trading De’Aaron Fox. At least, not yet.
He has four seasons left on the maximum contract he signed last summer. Between his lackluster playoff performance and the rise of Dylan Harper, that deal looks worse and worse. However, he’s still a high-level NBA starter and seems willing to split minutes with Harper and Stephon Castle.
At best, the Spurs have the best player in the league and the best backcourt unit. However, with the NBA Finals still fresh in their minds, most fans probably aren’t optimistic about Fox.
In the Finals, he averaged only 12.8 brutally inefficient points. On the other hand, he returned early from an ankle injury suffered in the second round. It’s easy to forget that he wasn’t anywhere near one hundred percent. The Spurs do have to be aware, though, that he might never get back into All-NBA, Clutch Player of the Year form.
What then?
De’Aaron Fox’s Prime Might Be Over
I will admit, this is a bit of a doomer opinion. Fox is only 28 years old, and while he’s not the most durable player out there, he’s not “injury prone.”
After suffering an ankle injury against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Fox went on to average 12 points and shoot only 35 percent from the floor in the final ten games of the Spurs’ season. Before the playoffs, he was posting 18.6 points per game and was the steadiest hand on the roster.
So, will he return to form, or is this the beginning of the end, with $221 million still owed?
Survey says: it’s a toss-up.
Fox has never been a great outside shooter, and both his defense and scoring depend heavily on his speed. At best, he excels at getting to the rim. At worst, he’s a less-athletic version of Ja Morant, minus the off-court drama.
If Harper wasn’t waiting behind him, fans would likely be willing to run things back, hoping Fox is totally healthy at the start of next season. But as he faces a possible decline, Harper looks the part of an All-NBA player, all before he can buy a beer.
Fox’s career won’t be sapped by a minor injury. Had he gotten hurt in the regular season, he would have missed a week or two and then gotten back to work. However, his playstyle doesn’t lend itself to being effective after he turns 30, and the Spurs are on the hook for the two years after that.
Plus, last season doesn’t point to him returning and being uber-effective. After the All-Star Game, Fox only missed a single contest. In those 27 games, his scoring dropped to 17.1 points per game, and his outside shooting dropped below 30 percent. Keep in mind, he was healthy at that point.
Harper, meanwhile, shot 47.9 percent from deep in the same span.
This is not the end for Fox, but after the Finals, he’s clearly not a top-25 player. Will he ever be again? The Spurs don’t need him to be in the running for major awards, but if he’s going to be paid and utilized like the second-best player on a title team, he needs to do his part.
The plan right now seems to be that Fox will recover, return to form, and be the player the Spurs traded for. If he re-establishes his value, the Spurs can sell high and trade him, opening up a bigger role for Harper, or they can attack with a three-headed monster. Both are good options.
If things go poorly to kick off next season, though, then the Spurs need to make a hard choice. They could attach a pick(s) to his salary and add a win-now player like Brandon Ingram, Michael Porter Jr., or even Stephen Curry. But if he doesn’t get off to a hot start, expect him to be the only overpaid player on the roster.
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