The San Antonio Spurs’ trade for De’Aaron Fox was initially viewed as a homerun by fans at large. Now, fans are wondering how to get out of his lengthy contract. With the ascent of rookie Dylan Harper in the playoffs, Fox’s struggles with shooting in the playoffs have been highlighted by this disparity. Making things worse was teammate Devin Vassell’s statement that Harper was “upset with playing time” during the Finals. Clearly, the pressure to find a new home, or a new role, for Fox is growing both internally and externally.
Is The De’Aaron Fox Experiment Already Over?
Is Fox Tradeable?
If the Spurs look to trade Fox to make room for Harper, they already have several issues. For one, Fox signed a massive contract extension worth $229 million in the 2025 offseason. This deal goes all the way until 2030. If another team hopes to trade for Fox, they have to justify paying him big bucks until the end of the decade. This is made worse by his other issue: his unclear role on any team.
The Spurs brought Fox in as a potential early NBA playoff running mate and as a mentor to the younger players. Fox was supposed to continue Chris Paul’s role in San Antonio as the player who controls the pace at the end of a game. However, this postseason has seen Fox repeatedly turn the ball over and miss shots in the clutch. It should be noted that Fox was playing through an injury. However, his decision-making is still being scrutinized, especially in the Knicks’ comeback win in Game 4.
If a team wants to take “Swipa,” they need to be able to live with paying a player significant money after witnessing him fail in his role on the biggest stage. All teams plan to win the Finals, and although winning with Fox isn’t impossible, he just proved it won’t be as easy as the Spurs thought it would be before extending him. He could be an effective mentor for younger players; however, the timeline just isn’t adding up, as he would be around by the time most younger players are relatively developed.
The Spurs, on the other hand, have a huge incentive to trade him. Trading Fox would most likely lead to increased cap space, and the Spurs are already in a better cap position than every team they have played this postseason. Not to mention adding picks to their arsenal will help them get cheaper players later on to help with potential cap space issues.
What Role Will Fox Have If He Stays?
The star point guard is only entering the second full year of his deal. San Antonio can afford to keep him around without issues until Harper needs a new contract. Harper has made it clear that he isn’t waiting around. Despite being a rookie, Harper looking like an All-Star and averaging 18 points in the finals, as well as outplaying Fox, is a test for the Spurs organization. If Harper isn’t starting by the beginning of next season, fans will demand answers.
However, benching Fox may not work either, as a player with his credentials may not take kindly to the decision. A guard-heavy lineup may be the foreseeable future for the Spurs. Fox, Harper, and Castle make for a solid trio, but the power forward position would become a question. Moving up Vassell keeps a solid player in the starting lineup, but would cause the Spurs to rely on Victor Wembanyama to do a lot of the heavy lifting with boxing out and rebounding. Keeping Julian Champagnie in the lineup would cause similar issues.
Potentially, the Spurs could trade for or sign another power forward to fill out the starting lineup. This could be a necessary addition to the team, but would bench Vassell and Champagnie (if Fox and Harper both start), or could lead to players with excellent chemistry leaving the team.
Fox could easily have a great upcoming season. He will have plenty of rest this offseason to get back to full health and more time to get familiar with San Antonio’s offense. However, it seems clear that the Spurs’ homegrown talent is consistently surpassing expectations and that these Spurs have natural chemistry. If the Spurs don’t trade Fox, he might become the odd man out in the starting lineup.
Featured Image: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
