De’Aaron Fox’s new max deal is already drawing heat, and not because of what he did in the regular season.
Fox got off to a strong postseason start, averaging 18.8 points and 5.8 assists per game while shooting 46.2% from the field and 34.6% from three across series against the Portland Trail Blazers and Minnesota Timberwolves. But once the Western Conference Finals arrived, his production started to slip as the Spurs knocked off the reigning-champion Oklahoma City Thunder in seven games. By the time the NBA Finals rolled around, Fox had slowed to a crawl.
That rough stretch is a big reason Bleacher Report’s Dave Favale ranked Fox No. 4 on his list of the NBA’s eight worst contracts.
“The aging curve of his skill set is the problem. Fox is already showing signs of athletic decline,” Favale wrote. “His free-throw attempts per 100 possessions have dipped year-over-year since 2022-23, and he's taken at least 25 percent of his looks at the rim only once over the past half-decade.”
The concern isn’t just the dip in numbers. Fox is owed $221.7 million over the next four years, and it looks unlikely a rival would want to take that money on in a trade, even if San Antonio attached future assets to sweeten the deal.
His Finals showing only sharpened the questions. Rather than looking like Wembanyama’s co-star, Fox became a player the Spurs struggled to count on offensively as the series went on.
That puts San Antonio in a tricky spot, though the rest of the roster gives the franchise some breathing room. Victor Wembanyama just signed a $252 million extension, which is still cheaper than it could’ve been, while Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle are still on the front end of their careers and their paydays. The Spurs also locked up Julian Champagnie on a three-year, $45 million deal.
For now, the most sensible path for head coach Mitch Johnson and the Spurs is to try to find a different role for Fox. A trade doesn’t appear to be coming anytime soon.
Fox may still have a chance to change the conversation in the 2026-27 regular season, but after what happened in the Finals, it’s easy to see why his contract has landed in the “worst” category.
In Other News...
Julian Champagnie's Extension Signals A Bigger Spurs Squeeze Is Coming
Julian Champagnies new extension is another sign the Spurs are trying to thread a very narrow financial needle as they build around Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper. San Antonio chose a three-year, $45 million commitment rather than a longer one, a tell that the front office is already planning for the cap squeeze that comes with keeping a young core intact while preserving room for future moves.
The bigger picture is less about Champagnie alone than the way the Spurs are staggering contract decisions to avoid painting themselves into a corner. Every extension, every expiration date and every roster choice now has to fit a long-range plan, and that means the team is weighing how much flexibility it can afford to give up before the next wave of decisions arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Suddenly Face A Massive De'Aaron Fox Decision
With Victor Wembanyama now locked in on an extension, the Spurs are already looking ahead to the next phase of roster building, and that has put De'Aaron Fox squarely in the middle of the conversation. San Antonio is weighing whether to keep the guard as part of the core or use him as a way to reshape the roster and trim money, a decision that says as much about the teams long-term direction as it does about Foxs fit.
Brandon Ingram has surfaced as a possible target in that kind of shuffle, giving the Spurs a very different type of offensive piece to consider around Wembanyama. The idea is still fluid, and the larger question is whether San Antonio wants to lean into continuity with Fox or pivot toward a different lineup balance as the front office keeps sorting through its options. [Read more 🡒]