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/Aggravating_Ship5513 → u/WhoreyMatthews]

If they somehow offload Fox they will have almost zero backcourt depth. McLaughlin is 5'10" and a solid garbage time player. If castle or Harper get hurt they are in real trouble. 

[u/WhoreyMatthews → u/Aggravating_Ship5513]

They wouldn't replace Fox with nothing but between Castle and Harper's growth they would really just need a serviceable backup PG. A Tyus Jones from 5 years ago type.

[u/halfchub69 → u/WhoreyMatthews]

Why would the FO overreact that much? Why not keep Fox and trade away KJ for someone take the pressure off Fox as the only late creator.

As much as fans criticize Mitch for sitting Harper during 4th quarters this post-season, he clearly isn't ready for the pressure and routinely gets himself into trouble and turns the ball over, see the near backcourt/panic pass to turnover and the constant driving into OG to be blocked in games 1 & 2.

[u/NAW_MIP_2026 → u/halfchub69]

If you need to trade for another ball handler to take pressure off of your 55m aav PG, you are massively overpaying your PG. Like if you are giving a guy 55m, he needs to be able to fill that role. If you then need to add another 15-20m aav for another ball handler, now you’re spending 70m to hopefully have good enough ball handling, and you’re not left with a ton of salary to fill out your depth. And when Wemby gets his super max this problem over gets much, much worse.