The San Antonio Spurs have made it clear that they don't want to trade De'Aaron Fox right away, although now with two postseasons under his belt, Fox has to shake a new identity.
After De'Aaron Fox averaged just 12 points in the NBA Finals, San Antonio Spurs fans have nearly all soured on him. Not only did his questionable play contribute to four blown leads against the New York Knicks, but rookie guard Dylan Harper usurped him as the best backcourt player on the team.
Fox is about to start the first season of his four-year maximum contract, so his trade value has never been lower. The Spurs, to their credit, are playing things close to the chest and are still excited about Fox starting at point guard... publicly.
In private, it's easy to imagine Brian Wright starting to shop him. And if Wright hasn't made calls, that will change before the February trade deadline. Assuming, though, that Fox isn't traded, the Spurs have a tough pill to swallow.
De'Aaron Fox Might Just Suck In the Playoffs
In his first Finals appearance, Fox posted 12.8 points on only 34.3 percent shooting from the floor. In the first three rounds of the playoffs, he averaged 16.4 points on slightly better efficiency, but was still clearly a better player in the regular season.
Last year was Fox's second-ever playoff berth. In 2023, he led the "Beam Team" Sacramento Kings on a magical regular season before getting bounced in the first round. The Kings were better than the Golden State Warriors in the regular season, and Fox actually played well in that series, although the effort wasn't enough and he lost in the first round.
In many ways, Fox was perfect for the Kings: he had some dazzling moments, but never cemented himself as a winning player. In San Antonio, where titles are the expectation, he simply has to be better when it matters.
"Look at Fox's career: He has never been in this position," said Alex Speers on The Athletic NBA Daily. "The two teams Fox has played for that made the playoffs both wildly outperformed their preseason over/under and were teams that made the playoffs after extended playoff droughts for those franchises. Expectations were always low. Everything was always gravy. Now he's the starting point guard on a Wemby-led team, making 50-plus million a year with the best odds of winning the championship. That is just a different level of pressure."
Granted, Fox played in the Western Conference Finals and NBA Finals on a bum ankle, which is admirable, although the larger body of work speaks volumes. The Spurs would not have won 62 games without Fox on the roster. He was integral to their regular-season success.
But in the postseason, they would have been better off without him. As they make plans for the future, the team will have to consider that.
