The San Antonio Spurs Don’t Need To Trade De’Aaron Fox… Yet

Fox’s Finals Blunders

Fox’s biggest Finals faux pas came at the end of Game 4.

The Spurs—who had already blown a 29-point lead—were up 106-105 when Jalen Brunson missed a mid-range jumper with about 16 seconds left. Fox raced down the court and corralled the rebound, but he made the ill-advised decision to drive to the basket for a layup rather than dribble around and try to draw a foul.

OG Anunoby blocked his shot and came up with a game-winning tip-in on the other end to seal the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history.

Despite that critical miscue, Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson expressed his faith in Fox ahead of Game 5.

“People have their opinions. I don’t care,” Johnson told reporters. “I care what the people that matter in our building, our organization, in that locker room, that they know how I feel. De’Aaron Fox will have the basketball in his hands at the end of the game tomorrow, and I have the utmost confidence he’s going to deliver like he’s done countless times for us.”

Unfortunately, Fox did not deliver as Johnson hoped. He finished the game with seven points on 3-of-15 shooting and was particularly disappointing in the fourth quarter, when he shot 0-of-4 from the field.

That was the culmination of a trend that showed up throughout most of the Finals.

In Fox’s defense, he spent the final two rounds of the playoffs playing through a high ankle sprain that he originally suffered in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He wound up missing the first two games of the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder due to that injury, and the Spurs clearly felt his absence.

The Spurs had 23 turnovers in Game 1 of the conference finals and 21 turnovers in Game 2, as they were forced to run more of their offense through second-year guard Stephon Castle with Fox sidelined. Castle was responsible for 20 of those giveaways.

Upon Fox’s return, Castle had six total turnovers between Games 3-6 combined. The Spurs never had more than 16 turnovers in any of their final 10 games with Fox back in the fold.

While Spurs fans might be ready to turn the backcourt over to Castle and rookie guard Dylan Harper, who was sensational off the bench in the playoffs, they’d be wise to remember the positives that Fox brought to the table this season.

San Antonio’s ‘Unsung Reason’

During the regular season, Fox was second on the Spurs in both scoring (18.7 points per game) and assists (6.2 per game). He’s a mediocre three-point shooter, but he knocked down 48.6% of his shot attempts overall.

Fox also ranked 21st leaguewide in total clutch points scored, which the NBA defines as a game that’s within five points in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter. He was far less effective in crunch time during the playoffs—he had only nine points on 3-of-15 shooting—although his ankle injury likely contributed to that drastic drop-off.

The presence of Harper and Castle is the main reason why Spurs fans may be antsy to move off Fox. After all, Spurs forward Devin Vassell acknowledged during his post-Finals press conference that Harper was “upset with playing time and different roles he was in” throughout the season.

Harper, who averaged 14.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists in only 26.7 minutes per game in the playoffs, looks like a star in the making. He also just turned 20 in March. There’s a big difference between shining off the bench and carrying a team through the grind of the 82-game regular season, and Harper has not proved that he’s capable of the latter quite yet.

The Spurs will need to find ways to further expand Castle and Harper’s roles next season so they’re eventually ready to take over as the long-term starting backcourt alongside 7’4″ French wunderkind Victor Wembanyama. However, both are iffy three-point shooters, so at least one of them will need to make major strides in that department moving forward.

Until then, Fox can be the veteran anchor who helps steady the up-and-coming Spurs.

“He’s shown in this league that he can put up big numbers, and he’s done that as well for us,” Johnson said about Fox earlier this year, per ESPN’s Michael C. Wright. “And then [he] also sat right next to Victor in the passenger seat. He’s given the ball to Dylan Harper and Steph Castle, these young guys that are just fearless and relentless and want to attack every possession. Then somehow, [he] also can take over the game and dominate. He probably is the most unsung reason why this has all worked.”

The other issue is that Fox is just about to begin a four-year, $220-plus million max contract extension. Teams may not be eager to absorb a contract of that size, particularly with Fox coming off a disappointing Finals run.

The Spurs’ best hope may be to bring back Fox, help him rebuild his trade value next season and then explore deals at the trade deadline or next summer once Castle and Harper are a bit more seasoned.

It may be tempting for the Spurs to accelerate their timeline fresh off their unexpected run to the Finals, but they should be just entering their championship window. Wembanyama is still on his rookie-scale contract for another season, while Castle and Harper have two and three years left on their deals, respectively.

The Spurs will eventually feel the financial crunch that the Oklahoma City Thunder are about to experience this offseason, but that’s not for another few years. By that time, Fox will be on the final year of his contract and will likely be long gone from San Antonio.

If the Spurs are somehow able to fill a need by flipping Fox—say, by acquiring New Orleans Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III, for instance—that would be worth exploring. But they shouldn’t be in a rush to dump him just because he struggled in the Finals while playing through a high ankle sprain.

Given Wembanyama’s rapid ascent, stars across the league will likely be eager to join forces with him in the coming years. Fox’s contract will be one of the Spurs’ main salary-matching chips to use in that type of a blockbuster trade down the road.

Bringing Fox back off his dismal Finals performance may be a tough pill for Spurs fans to swallow. But patience very well could be the best thing for the organization in the long run, much like it has been for the Thunder in recent years.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

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