Sacrificing draft capital to dump a massive contract prematurely ignores San Antonio's current title window and the luxury of evaluating their talented backcourt rotation in real time.
De'Aaron Fox's contract could become a problem for the San Antonio Spurs. In all honesty, it probably will at some point.
That doesn't mean San Antonio should start paying to get rid of it before the first year of his extension has even begun.
Bill Simmons floated an interesting solution to the Spurs' increasingly crowded backcourt, suggesting the Los Angeles Clippers could offer Darius Garland for Fox while San Antonio sends draft capital along with him.
The appeal is obvious. Fox's four-year extension, now worth approximately $223.1 million, runs through 2029-30. Garland is owed $42.2 million this season and $44.9 million in 2027-28 before reaching unrestricted free agency.
Two years instead of four. More flexibility. One fewer long-term contract to worry about as Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper get more expensive.
It makes sense on a spreadsheet ... San Antonio just has no reason to do it yet.
Fox averaged 18.6 points and 6.2 assists last season while helping the Spurs win 62 games and reach the NBA Finals. His postseason wasn't nearly as good.
He averaged 15.6 points across San Antonio's playoff run, then fell to 12.8 points on 34.3 percent shooting in five Finals games against the New York Knicks.
That performance matters because Harper was going in the opposite direction.
The rookie averaged 18.0 points and 6.4 rebounds while shooting 49.3 percent from the field in the Finals. Between Harper's emergence and Castle already establishing himself as part of San Antonio's core, it isn't difficult to see where the conversation comes from.
Fox may eventually become the odd man out ...
Eventually.
The Spurs are coming off a trip to the Finals and trying to win the whole thing now. Fox is 28, a two-time All-Star and remains a good NBA point guard. Garland is too. This isn't about pretending San Antonio would be giving away a star for a lesser player.
It's about the picks.
Why should the Spurs sacrifice draft capital now just to shorten a contract that hasn't created a problem yet?
San Antonio can enter 2026-27 with Fox, Castle and Harper, see how the three fit together and revisit the conversation later.
Maybe Fox rebounds from his Finals performance. Maybe Harper becomes so good that the decision makes itself. Maybe another trade market emerges entirely.
There is no reward for choosing before they have to.
The financial squeeze is coming. Fox will make roughly $49.8 million this season, with his salary climbing above $61 million by 2029-30. Wembanyama's extension begins next season, Castle can become extension-eligible next summer and Harper follows one year later.
San Antonio will eventually have to decide how many expensive guards can reasonably fit around Wembanyama.
Simmons is right to wonder what happens when that day arrives. Three months after a Finals appearance, though, the Spurs have something far more valuable than an early answer.
They have time.
