The San Antonio Spurs have plenty to like early on, but De’Aaron Fox’s offense has become too hard to brush aside. He’s helping move the ball, he’s feeding Victor Wembanyama with sharp alley-oops, and he leads the team in assists. But as a scorer, Fox just hasn’t been close to the player San Antonio needs him to be.
His numbers tell the story. Fox is averaging only 13.9 points per game, a steep drop from the production the Spurs expected when they brought him in from the Sacramento Kings less than two years ago.
That’s more than 11 points below where he was at the time of the trade, and it’s not just a slow start anymore. It’s a real issue.
To be fair, Fox is operating in a crowded backcourt and sharing the floor with two other point guards plus Wembanyama. But that doesn’t fully explain how passive he’s looked. He seems more willing to set the table than to attack, and that’s a problem for a player who’s supposed to be one of San Antonio’s top offensive engines.
The bigger concern is what this means down the road. If Fox keeps producing around 14 points a night, his trade value could take another hit, making it much harder for the Spurs to move him later.
The team doesn’t have to deal with that decision now, or even next season, but eventually they’ll have to decide what comes next. Right now, though, Fox isn’t making that future any easier.
He isn’t being asked to carry the offense alone, and with Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle already occupying major roles, his scoring drought doesn’t leave San Antonio empty-handed. Still, Fox is the highest-paid player on the roster, and he’s not coming close to matching that status. He’s not functioning like a second or third option, and that’s a tough look for someone with his contract.
The fix starts with something basic: more shots. Fox is taking just 8.5 attempts per game, which is shockingly low, even below Devin Vassell.
If he added five more shots a night and kept the same efficiency, his scoring would climb to about 18 points per game. That still wouldn’t look like peak Fox, but it would be a meaningful step forward and a lot closer to the kind of threat San Antonio needs.
For now, the issue isn’t that Fox has lost his ability. It’s that he’s playing more on the ball without playing nearly aggressively enough.
The Spurs need more than steady setup work from him. They need him looking for his own shot, and that part has to come from Fox himself.
In Other News...
Wembanyama Just Gave Spurs Fans Another Unreal Moment To Debate
Victor Wembanyama keeps finding new ways to make the ordinary look absurd, and his latest highlight came in the third quarter against the Bulls. The Spurs big man launched into a two-hand dunk from the free-throw line, the kind of play that instantly turns a regular night into another entry in the growing Wembanyama highlight reel.
It also came in the middle of a game where he was already stuffing the stat sheet, with San Antonio ahead in the fourth quarter and Wembanyama sitting on 32 points, eight rebounds, two steals and four blocks. Given the way he has been playing all season, with elite production on both ends and a shooting touch to match, the only real debate left is how many more moments like this he can still create before the league runs out of ways to react. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Hot Start Still Leaves One Big Tobias Harris Question
Nine straight wins have given the Spurs plenty to like early, but the one major piece they have not yet been able to factor in is Tobias Harris. His absence has left San Antonio to keep sorting through a rotation that is already working, even as the veteran forwards expected return looms as a potential boost in size and shooting.
Harris is the kind of addition that can change the shape of a lineup without forcing the Spurs to tear up what has gotten them off to such a strong start. The open question is where he fits once he is available, since his role could be determined by the coachs decisions and could land anywhere from the starting five to a more defined bench role. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Return To Chicago With A Reminder Of How Much Changed
The Spurs trip to the United Center comes with a few familiar faces in unfamiliar places, and Billy Donovan is part of the backdrop. After spending years as the Bulls head coach, Donovan is now on San Antonios bench as an assistant, adding another layer to a matchup that already carries some offseason overlap between the two organizations.
Tre Jones and Zach Collins, both former Spurs, are now on the Chicago side after being traded in February 2025, turning this into more than just a routine road game. For San Antonio, it is a reminder of how quickly a roster and a coaching staff can change, and how many old connections still linger when two teams meet again. [Read more 🡒]