De’Aaron Fox has become an easy target after his rough NBA Finals showing against the Knicks, but the criticism around him has gone well past reasonable. Yes, the ankle injury matters.
And yes, he has some cleanup to do when the playoffs roll around again. But putting him near the very top of the league’s pressure list for next season stretches the case too far.
Zach Lowe did exactly that, ranking Fox second on his list of players under the most pressure heading into next season. The reasoning centered on two things: the Spurs still needing Fox’s organizational skills and mid-range touch to become a championship contender, and the start of a four-year, $229 million contract that is being viewed through the lens of future flexibility.
That argument sounds bigger than the reality around Fox in San Antonio. His first full season in silver and black was strong, and the trouble mostly showed up in the playoffs.
Even then, the damage really didn’t hit until the Finals. Before that, he was still part of the reason the Spurs got through OKC, and he was willing to play through a bad ankle to help them do it.
The idea that Fox belongs near the top of the pressure mountain also falls apart once you look around the league. Luka Doncic was traded from Dallas with zero heads-up.
LeBron James just left him to play in Philadelphia for the veteran minimum. Jaylen Brown helped push Boston to a 56-win season while Jayson Tatum was out for most of the year, and then Boston traded him.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has spent two years in nonstop drama, and now he finally has his new team and an elite head coach. Trae Young has been shouting about how underrated and undervalued he is.
Ja Morant has been one big distraction, and the Grizzlies really struggled to trade him. He has something to prove in Portland.
Paolo Banchero was supposed to be the next LeBron James, but he has been a disappointment in Orlando.
Compared with that crowd, Fox looks like a player who needs to answer questions, not one carrying the league’s heaviest load.
Lowe’s supporting points don’t hold up especially well, either. The Spurs had Fox’s midrange game all season, and he delivered in those spots: 58% from 5-9 feet, 51% from 10-14 feet, and 48% from 15-19 feet.
Those numbers dipped in the playoffs, which is really the heart of the matter. That’s when the pressure actually shows up.
Across the full year, Fox shot 48.6% from the field, the second-highest mark of his career.
The contract point is also more useful for Fox than harmful. He already has the money, so whether he’s tradable or not is not really his concern.
And it’s unlikely he wants to go anywhere anyway. If anything, that’s a front-office issue for San Antonio, not a player burden.
The final piece of Lowe’s case has some logic to it, because Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle are coming no matter what Fox does. The Spurs have a crowded guard room, and because of the CBA, they’ll probably have to move on from the former Kings star at some point. But that still doesn’t make him the No. 2 pressure player in the league.
There are bigger messes out there, including Kawhi Leonard, who is in his own kind of spotlight whether he ends up in Toronto or back in LA for another run with the Clippers.
So Fox does have something to prove. Nobody is pretending otherwise.
But one bad Finals performance does not wipe out the regular season he put together, and it certainly doesn’t make him one of the most pressured players heading into next season. That conversation can wait until the first round of the 2027 playoffs begins.
In Other News...
Spurs Fans Just Got A Lonnie Walker Reunion They Didn't Expect
Lonnie Walker IV is back in the Western Conference mix, this time on a one-year deal with the Denver Nuggets. For Spurs fans, it is another reminder of a player who once came through San Antonio as a draft pick and has since bounced around the league and overseas before landing in Denver, where he is expected to give the defending West powers a deeper bench.
Walkers path has always made him one of those names that can pop up anywhere and still feel familiar in San Antonio. The Nuggets are betting on him as reserve insurance and another source of perimeter depth, while Spurs supporters are left watching an old friend re-enter the conference in a role that could matter if Denvers second unit needs a lift. [Read more 🡒]
Stephon Castle Decision Could Shape Spurs' Long-Term Title Window
The conversation around rookie max extensions has shifted lately, and ESPNs Bobby Marks pointed to a possible new pattern after the recent trade involving Zaccharie Risacher to Dallas. For San Antonio, that matters because Stephon Castle has quickly become one of the most important young pieces on a roster already built around Victor Wembanyama, and the Spurs have spent years establishing the kind of team culture that makes long-term planning feel intentional rather than reactive.
If Castle keeps developing at the expected pace, he could land in the same contract conversation, and the timing of that decision would carry real weight for the Spurs salary cap and their bigger championship picture. San Antonio has already set one precedent with Wembanyama, and what happens with Castle could help determine how tightly the franchise can hold together its core while keeping a clear path to a title window that is still taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Could Face A Brutal Devin Vassell Decision Soon
The Spurs are already staring at the kind of payroll squeeze that can arrive faster than a young team expects. With Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper all set to command bigger extensions down the line, San Antonio will have to map out how much money it can realistically commit around its core while the salary cap keeps climbing. Devin Vassell sits squarely in the middle of that conversation because his deal is part of the structure the front office now has to fit everything else around.
It is the sort of long-range planning that can force uncomfortable choices even when the basketball fit still makes sense. San Antonio would prefer to keep as much talent as possible, but the second apron is the type of line teams have learned to treat seriously, especially when one more hefty contract could tip the balance. For the Spurs, the question is not whether Vassell matters. It is how long they can keep the roster together before the math starts demanding a harder answer. [Read more 🡒]