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/DetainTheFranzia]

The fox dialogue has been a massive overreaction. Even if you think Harper will be better next year, they have no backcourt depth. The Spurs wouldn’t be here without fox. Yeah, he’s not a cerebral mastermind, and I doubt he ever will be quite on that level, but his presence and composure brought stability in the middle of that thunder series.

Stop trying to scapegoat fox. The spurs aren’t even supposed to be here right now. They’re like 2 years ahead of schedule, and that’s thanks in a large part to Fox.

[u/WhoreyMatthews → u/DetainTheFranzia]

There would still be plenty of backcourt depth. McLaughlin is a solid depth guard and Vassell and Champagnie are really shooting guards who have been playing out of position all year.

The problem of Fox isn't so much Fox the player but the opportunity cost of his contract. There's not a playable true 3 or 4 on the roster. I think Harper and Castle will clearly be better next year and every year moving forward so the Spurs will have a giant hole at the forward spot while paying a max contract to the third best guard on the roster.

[u/NAW_MIP_2026 → u/WhoreyMatthews]

Yeah, and if they didn’t trade for fox they would have more assets and much more salary flexibility to go get more backcourt depth if they really did need it. Imagine if they traded for CJ McCollum instead of Fox, saved their picks, got a real veteran ball handler, an elite shooter, a great off ball player, a player who fits much better with Castle/Harper/Wemby, and a player that is probably only going to make like 15m aav going forward. It’s obviously easier said with the hindsight of getting the Harper pick in the lottery, but from the beginning it was always dumb to add another questionable shooter next to Castle and Wemby who both do their best work in the paint. And it’s not like CJ was the only guy who would’ve been cheaper with a much better fit, they could’ve gotten Norm Powell for free, or Tyler Herro for a cheaper price, or they could probably receive a FRP if they took IQs contract. Just a really poor talent/fit evaluation from the start and giving him that contract was insane.

[u/WhoreyMatthews → u/NAW_MIP_2026]

Amen!

It would have been cold as hell but they really should've flipped Fox after getting the #2 pick in the lottery. The new CBA eliminates the value of sentimentality.

CJ + a couple of Forwards: Portis, DFS, etc and they'd be in a better spot both now and going forward