Player Expectations for De'Aaron Fox 2026 Season

[spursistan]

I don't think anyone here is prepared for the worst case scenario: Fox coming back looking like a shell of the player he was before his injuries (a whooping 8 month layoff; you would think he tore an ACL)..

There is here not a remote chance of the Spurs having to deal with the worst contract in NBA being on their roster.. Not going to lie, i'm bit concerned. especially with his archetype: small, speedster PG .The falloff can be quick and dramatic

 

[scott]

I don't think anyone here is prepared for the worst case scenario: Fox coming back looking like a shell of the player he was before his injuries (a whooping 8 month layoff; you would think he tore an ACL)..

There is here not a remote chance of the Spurs having to deal with the worst contract in NBA being on their roster.. Not going to lie, i'm bit concerned. especially with his archetype: small, speedster PG .The falloff can be quick and dramatic

I'm as big a Fox fan as they come... but you're not wrong.

 

[spurraider21]

eh. even if he has a bum tire, he's just about to turn 28. he's not at the age where you are concerned about him not looking like himself again.

he also has a very good midrange game, much like late career TP. in the peak "MVParker" seasons, TP was making 45.3% of his shots between 3-10 feet and 45.5% of his shots between 10-16 feet. over the last 5 seasons, Fox has made 51.0% and 46.3% from those ranges, respectively.

fox is on the smaller side but he's not egregiously tiny by PG standards

 

[ffadicted]

I don't think anyone here is prepared for the worst case scenario: Fox coming back looking like a shell of the player he was before his injuries (a whooping 8 month layoff; you would think he tore an ACL)..

There is here not a remote chance of the Spurs having to deal with the worst contract in NBA being on their roster.. Not going to lie, i'm bit concerned. especially with his archetype: small, speedster PG .The falloff can be quick and dramatic

It's a possibility, but I have a hard time with the idea of him being worse than Castle at ball handling and running an offense. With Harper gone and still learning, having a vet PG will be huge for us, and even at partial capacity he'd still easily be our #2. Wemby needs a threat on the floor so we can start punishing these triple teams on him, plus letting Castle play off ball and focus on defense will help overall.

The contract piece sure, but that's a problem for another day, we still have very good rookie scale contracts for a couple years before it's really a huge problem.

 

[Seventyniner]

A recent vid said Fox was levitating on layups in practice. Doesn't sound like a career altering injury.

 

[Kick-Stand]

I don't think anyone here is prepared for the worst case scenario: Fox coming back looking like a shell of the player he was before his injuries (a whooping 8 month layoff; you would think he tore an ACL)..

There is here not a remote chance of the Spurs having to deal with the worst contract in NBA being on their roster.. Not going to lie, i'm bit concerned. especially with his archetype: small, speedster PG .The falloff can be quick and dramatic

In that absolute worst case for Fox they probably either go into the second apron for one year in 29-30 to max Harper or waive and stretch Fox's final year in 29-30 so they can max Harper. So probably doesn't cost the Spurs Castle nor Harper, but of course would cost them depth to put around them.

 

[RC_Drunkford]

Can't wait to see him play after the All-Star break when he finally has enough conditioning

 

[brazil]

My expectation is that he plays. For all the shit we throw at Victor, Castle, KJ.. at least they play duh

 

[SpurSpike]

Half a year since he has played a professional game of basketball, the least they could do is give us an updated target return date... He was originally expected to miss the 1st 5 games and we are well past the original target return of Nov 1st.

 

[rjv]

Half a year since he has played a professional game of basketball, the least they could do is give us an updated target return date... He was originally expected to miss the 1st 5 games and we are well past the original target return of Nov 1st.

I had always heard the first week of November but it wasn’t an official statement.

 

[poopbox]

A recent vid said Fox was levitating on layups in practice. Doesn't sound like a career altering injury.

Doesn't sound like he is playing tonight, or tomorrow, or any games that actually matter in the near future tbh

 

[Ariel]

With the contract he signed, Fox needs to play at all star level. He might not make it every year because of the brutal competition in the west, but he needs to be in that conversation. Otherwise he's making 30% of the cap to block Harper and will need to be moved eventually.

 

[bozhemoi]

Being absolute ass.

 

[Correct Crusader]

My expectation is an FBI investigation for gambling by mid february

 

[Corso]

Lol. Damn, you guys are saucy!

I dig it.

 

[Ice009]

I've only got one after last night's game. Don't play that bad ever again.

Seriously, though, he's still shaking off the rust. The integration didn't look great last night, though, but I also need to see him playing a lot better on defense. Then again defense isn't just an issue with one player. They all got to be more attentive on defense. Steph shouldn't always have to carry the load guarding the other team's best perimeter players (he should be able to get a bit of a rest in-game), we need some of these other guys to step up and no be sieves when Victor and Steph aren't on the court.

 

[Shmurs]

what are people’s thoughts about fox’s move where he takes the ball up and pulls up from 3 with like 17 seconds on the clock?

I don’t really understand anyone doing this unless it’s a heat check or a continuation of some big play on D. If it’s a good shot to take then just take it every single time? But we know it’s not a good shot to take. And we see castle doing it. And Devin. And Vic. And a lot of other guys around the league.

Is it too much to expect for coaches to put guidelines in place about when you have a green light ?

 

[ginobilized]

I hope that I'm over-reacting and projecting some unrealistic expectations onto Fox. The rust and the lack of cohesion are valid.

It feels like there is great cohesion and chemistry developing among several players. The OG of KJ, Vassell, Champagnie are meshing pretty damn well with the burgeoning talents and Spursian ethos of Wemby, Castle, Kornet and even the young Harper. Communication on defense has improved 100% from last year. It looks like Fox is not on that page. It feels like he's expecting the team to adjust to him and is not part of the new ethos that is developing. Harper fitting in seamlessly makes the Fox awkwardness even more of a head-scratcher.

Again, I hope I'm wrong and Fox adds a dimension that impacts winning vs real teams. Friday vs the Warriors would be a good game to start playing contributing.

 

[ulosturedge]

Again, just one game but if he can't figure out how to incorporate himself into what the Spurs were doing before he came back he is going to need to be relegated to feeding off second stringers.

 

[OK Computer]

We literally have three all stars on the team if this guy wakes up.

We’ll have four by next season. How many teams can say that?

 

[rjv]

could have been rust. he didn't look all that great against the Bulls either. but he has to be sharper on defense,.

 

[O_V]

I hope that I'm over-reacting and projecting some unrealistic expectations onto Fox. The rust and the lack of cohesion are valid.

It feels like there is great cohesion and chemistry developing among several players. The OG of KJ, Vassell, Champagnie are meshing pretty damn well with the burgeoning talents and Spursian ethos of Wemby, Castle, Kornet and even the young Harper. Communication on defense has improved 100% from last year. It looks like Fox is not on that page. It feels like he's expecting the team to adjust to him and is not part of the new ethos that is developing. Harper fitting in seamlessly makes the Fox awkwardness even more of a head-scratcher.

Again, I hope I'm wrong and Fox adds a dimension that impacts winning vs real teams. Friday vs the Warriors would be a good game to start playing contributing.

Kid has been in the league nine years. He has played in seven playoff games. His teams have had winning records twice. That stink takes a while to wash off.

My recent problem with him was where he didn't hustle or waited for his teammates to do his heavy lifting for him. That didn't last long, as he has been playing better. As a fan, I don't mind if he makes a mistake as long as he's giving effort.

I think the teamwork from this group of guys will win him over and he'll start to figure it out. However, I thought the zero-turnover Victor we saw in the first two games was going to last.

And lastly, I still think Fox should be given some "feast minutes" where he can go run up the score on second units.

 

[Exstatic]

Kid has been in the league nine years. He has played in seven playoff games. His teams have had winning records twice. That stink takes a while to wash off.

My recent problem with him was where he didn't hustle or waited for his teammates to do his heavy lifting for him. That didn't last long, as he has been playing better. As a fan, I don't mind if he makes a mistake as long as he's giving effort.

I think the teamwork from this group of guys will win him over and he'll start to figure it out. However, I thought the zero-turnover Victor we saw in the first two games was going to last.

And lastly, I still think Fox should be given some "feast minutes" where he can go run up the score on second units.

Every feast minute you give him is a moment a reserve has to play against their starters and better defenders. Your feast becomes theirs.

 

[O_V]

Every feast minute you give him is a moment a reserve has to play against their starters and better defenders. Your feast becomes theirs.

Fuck, I hate this interface sometimes. Determined to answer you.

It's a good point. A better way to look at is that every feast minute you give him is a minute he isn't being asked to defend their starters.

The Spurs have a lot of good players at his position who are better defenders, integrate better with the offense and can't do some of the scoring things he can. You can temper his selfishness a bit by utilizing him, IMO.