The San Antonio Spurs are down to their final strike after they suffered a crushing 107-106 defeat at the hands of the New York Knicks in Game 4 on Wednesday night. While OG Anunoby‘s game-winning putback bucket drew the most attention from fans, many folks also couldn’t get over De’Aaron Fox‘s mind-boggling miscue that opened the door for the Knicks to win the game.
With just 10 seconds left, Fox sprinted out to a loose ball at halfcourt, but rather than attempt to bleed some time off the clock and force New York to foul him, he went up for a layup, which was promptly blocked by Anunoby. It was just the latest error in what has been a rough postseason for Fox, and if you ask NBA insider Brett Siegel, he very well may have the worst contract in the entire league right now.
Spurs Could Have a De’Aaron Fox Problem on Their Hands
The Spurs picked up Fox in a trade with the Sacramento Kings to come in and work alongside Victor Wembanyama as the focal point of the team’s offense. During the regular season, he put together a fine season (18.6 PPG, 6.2 APG, 3.8 RPG, 48.6 FG%), as he earned the second All-Star selection of his career.
The playoffs have been a different story, though. While Fox is admittedly battling an ankle injury, he has been thoroughly outplayed by both Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper in San Antonio’s backcourt. Through 20 games now, Fox is averaging 16 points per game on just 42.5% shooting from the field. If you shrink the sample size to his four games against New York, those numbers drop to 14.3 points per game on 38.2% shooting.
Right now, the Spurs have to find a way to work their way back into the Finals, but once the offseason rolls around, they may have to seriously think about moving on from Fox. The problem is that the front office signed him to a four-year, $229 million contract extension last offseason, and that may be difficult to move off of because of how poorly Fox has been as of late.
“You signed him to this $220 million contract that is probably the worst contract in the NBA right now when you’re looking at it, given the Spurs’ situation,” Siegel said on “Clutch Scoops.” “He is not the number one guard on this team anymore; it’s Stephon Castle. He’s probably not even the number two guard anymore because of Dylan Harper.”
What Should the Spurs Do with De’Aaron Fox?
De’Aaron Fox #4 of the San Antonio Spurs could be the subject of NBA trade rumors.
Even when things are going badly for the Spurs, it’s largely a byproduct of their success. Fox has found himself in a tough spot, largely because of how good Castle and Harper have looked early in their respective careers. With both guys playing well in the postseason, that has put more pressure on Fox to step up his game, even though he is not fully healthy.
Fox can still rewrite the narrative that is currently swirling around him by helping San Antonio overcome the 3-1 series deficit it finds itself in. That is going to be easier said than done, though, and considering how poorly Fox has played, head coach Mitch Johnson may be forced to play both Castle and Harper over him moving forward. At some point, Fox’s future will become a real topic of discussion, but for now, the team’s full focus is on winning Game 5.
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