No San Antonio Spurs player is carrying more pressure into this season than De'Aaron Fox, and the concern isn't just that he had a rough NBA Finals. It's that one of his best traits may also be a warning sign.
Fox is about to begin a max contract season, and last year he was still excellent at one very specific shot. He made 53.6 percent of his floaters on 1.5 attempts per game, which put him among the NBA’s best at that look.
2025-26 Highest Floater FG%...
Float GOATs pic.twitter.com/Jfblbjp60C
- Basketball University (@UofBasketball) September 8, 2026
That sounds like a strength. For San Antonio, though, it can also be read another way.
Fox wasn’t nearly as dangerous with the ball in his hands last season, and he got to the rim much less often than he used to. Instead, he drifted toward more threes, more mid-range jumpers, and more floaters.
A great floater percentage can be useful, but it can also mean a guard is settling because he can’t consistently turn the corner and get all the way to the basket. That’s the part the Spurs have to worry about.
The version of Fox San Antonio wants is the one who tears into the paint, bends defenses, finishes at the rim, and creates clean looks for teammates. If he’s living on floaters instead of layups, that’s not the kind of offensive engine the Spurs were paying for.
The organization seems willing to give him time to sort it out, but the leash won’t be unlimited. He has to look more assertive than he did a season ago.
There was a stretch early last year when Fox’s shooting run helped cover up the fact that his speed wasn’t showing up the same way. Once that hot stretch cooled off, his production came down hard. He averaged 23.9 points over his first 17 games, then finished the season at 18.8 points.
The numbers around the rim tell the story even more clearly. In 2024-25, Fox shot 65.8 percent on 243 attempts in the restricted area and 65.5 percent on 284 attempts within five feet. Last season, those marks fell to 56.1 percent on 66 attempts in the restricted area and 51.3 percent on 76 attempts within five feet.
The bigger issue wasn’t just efficiency. It was volume.
He went from taking 4.6 shots within five feet of the basket to just one per game last season. That kind of drop-off jumps off the page, and the source says he wasn’t dealing with an injury.
He’s still in his twenties, so a rebound is still on the table. But if Fox is going to look like the player San Antonio expected, the quickness has to come back. The Spurs are banking on a more explosive Fox being the difference-maker this season.
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