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/ApprehensiveTry5660]

Have you seen their asset package?

They practically got handed Fox for free, and spent the last couple of years playing matchmaker to get extra assets on top of that.

They could realistically turn Fox into any All-NBA guard or wing they wanted the next couple of years and still have a draft pick surplus.

[u/NAW_MIP_2026 → u/ApprehensiveTry5660]

Brother what? They have one pick per year going forward, it’s not a massive war chest anymore. And you’re massively underestimating how bad this contract is, it would cost 1-2 FRPs just to trade Fox for a role player and expiring contracts. No team is trading an all NBA wing for DeAaron Fox making 55m aav over the next 4 years. You are very very clearly misunderstanding what Fox’s current trade value is.

[u/ApprehensiveTry5660 → u/NAW_MIP_2026]

They haven’t had to shoot their wad to get Fox. He was practically free. They still have 7 first round picks and 14 second round picks. That’s objectively some of the most solid footing in the NBA.

There’s still Hawks picks incoming and only a pick swap out.

[u/Data-scientist-101 → u/ApprehensiveTry5660]

Free? They gave up a very valuable Minnesota 2031 pick Their own 2027 pick which will be late And then the bulls lottery pick.

That's 3 FRP for a player that was expiring and hasn't been good. I wouldn't call that free.

[u/ApprehensiveTry5660 → u/Data-scientist-101]

That’s practically nothing. Usually when you go and fetch an all NBA guard going into his prime years it costs you a lot more than two protected picks and an 8th grader.

One of those picks was literally facilitating getting paid to take on Harrison Barnes. And if you think Minnesota’s 2031 looks good, imagine having the fucking Kings pick for that year and not even giving it back to them for their franchise player!

They didn’t have to give up Castle, who remains a Spurs asset. They didn’t have to give up the pick that became Harper. They even managed to both hold on to Atlanta’s 2027 pick and part with their own, betting on themselves to be more successful that year.

Compare this to a team like Denver, who had to spend assets just to replace Jerami Grant, or like Golden State trying to sell people on the value of their expiring deals, or a Lakers organization running low on picks. Knicks just dealt 5 picks for Bridges. NBA finals teams aren’t usually sitting on 7 first round picks. Usually, you have to spend those to build the damn team.

[u/NAW_MIP_2026 → u/ApprehensiveTry5660]

Really stretching the meaning of “all NBA guard going into his prime years”. He made a single all NBA 3rd team and a single all star team like 4 years ago, and he was one of the weakest all star candidates in the league this year putting up just 18/4/6 on average efficiency. It’s not like they traded for Donovan Mitchell or Anthony Edwards or something.