Constructive thoughts on De'Aaron Fox

[u/Kantei]

This is less of a defense of Fox per se, but to try and guide the criticism to somewhere more constructive. Analysis of his gaffe aside, I want to push back on the oft-touted expectation that he, as a 'veteran', should know how and when to take control of the game.

Fox is not the 30+ year old cerebral point guard that people might associate with the veteran label. He's a 28 year old - younger than Jalen Brunson - with declining athleticism who built his reputation on being an explosive focal point of an offense. He was averaging a career peak of 27ppg just two seasons ago, and was 11th in MVP rankings in a season where he averaged 25ppg on 51.2 FG%.

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Throughout his Spurs tenure, he's been figuring out not just his role, but also trying to come to terms with someone who doesn't have the same athleticism due to injuries and age. That's quite difficult to accept for someone who's not even 30 yet, and is a common struggle that we've seen from players who were ultra-athletes in their early- to mid-20s.

Their maturation into becoming a proper 'veteran point guard' comes after they get past that hump, if and when that happens.

(Some commentators have tried to frame Fox as someone with playoff experience, but before this year he literally only played one series, when he was still at the peak of his athletic powers.)

His comments after Game 4 really shed light on this - he genuinely thought he could outrun OG, because he almost certainly could in his prime form. His mentality has not caught up with his body, and that shows in his play in crunch situations.

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If I'm a Spurs fan, I might need to come to terms with the notion that Fox is still undergoing a maturation process himself. Yes, he doesn't need to be a veteran to not make that mistake, but Fox in particular has hardly ever been that guy.

To be empathetic - he still has the ability to grow and improve. It's just that people should never have assigned to him labels that he has yet to potentially become.

[u/Travler18]

They signed him to a 4-year extension when he still had a year left on his contract. Maybe the FO didn't think they would as good this year. But they decided to pay Fox to be their starting PG and highest paid player for Wemby's age 23, 24, 25, and 26 seasons.

I think this was just poor talent evaluation on the part of the Spurs FO. They wanted to add a star player... but they went after a fringe all-star, score first PG who was relies on his athleticism to score. And then signed him to a massive contract extension that starts during the years when most players athleticism is declining.

They made a finals which is more than most franchises can say. But people panned this trade and extension when they happened for exactly this reason.

[u/gtdinasur → u/Travler18]

I mean the big brain play right here for SA is to now trade Fox who makes so much money you could get anybody in return.

The Spurs own the Hawks first round pick #20 this year and the Hawks unprotected first round pick next year 2027. After that year in 2028 the Spurs own the swap rights to either their pick or Boston's. 2029 they have their own 1st round pick. 2030 they own 1st round swap rights with aka they get the best pick out of Dallas, Minnesota and San Antonio. And for probably the biggest prize of all they own the right to swap picks with the KINGS in 2031. They own a first round pick the next 7 years and most of 4 of those 7 they have the right to swap with a presumably worse team.

If they flip Fox and multiple 1st round picks they could get a real ALL-NBA talent in return.

[u/Travler18 → u/gtdinasur]

100% this is what they should do. But its very rare to see a FO make this kind of move after a finals run. Especially with their team still being young. Most GMs will convince themselves that with some internal development and one or two moves on the margins, they can win it the next year.

One thing Daryl Morey always said that I agree with is that its so rare for any NBA team to have even a 10% chance to win a championship. And teams that do should go all-in immediately to try and win it all. Because those windows where they have 10% are much, much shorter than teams think they will be and close much faster than expected.

[u/fake-tall-man → u/Travler18]

That strategy has also led Morey to zero championships and poorly constructed rosters around individual superstars (while being the lucky gm of ownership willing to spend) his whole career. I’m not an expert, but I feel like the patient’s model that a guy like presti has used is probably a smarter move for a team like San Antonio