The San Antonio Spurs have a bit of a logjam at the guard position at the present moment, with De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and number two overall draft pick Dylan Harper all figuring to get minutes this year. All of these players have been brought to the Spurs in support of Victor Wembanyama, who has been cleared to return after his blood clot scare a year ago.
The Spurs traded for Fox at the deadline in 2024-24, and as ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel reported, Fox became eligible on Sunday for a four-year, $229 million extension.
Recently, NBA insider Marc Stein took to his Substack to shed some light on the league's thought process regarding a potential extension for the former All-Star.
“Since acquiring Fox… San Antonio has watched Stephon Castle win Rookie of the Year honors and won the rights via the draft lottery to select Dylan Harper with the No. 2 overall pick on June 25,” reported Stein. “Those developments have many people wondering leaguewide: How automatic is a max for Fox now?”
Siegel also reported that “it sounds like (Fox) will be getting an extension worth slightly less than the max.”
The emergence of Castle and the draft lottery luck that led to Harper have complicated what once seemed like an obvious decision to keep Fox around long-term, regardless of the price.
A bizarre scenario for the Spurs
At the present moment, De'Aaron Fox is clearly the best of the three players in the Spurs' guard logjam, but with Harper and Castle both being 20 years old or younger, there is plenty of room for those two to catch up to Fox's level.
The only way they'll be able to do so, however, is if they get consistent minutes, which may be hard for the Spurs to provide if Fox is running point. A lot of the answer to the Spurs' dilemma depends on how quickly they are planning to compete with Wembanyama as their centerpiece. If the goal is to win now, it would make sense for Fox to get the majority of the minutes and an extension.
However, if the Spurs are willing to endure a couple more years of growing pains before true contention, they may be rewarded for their patience with a more sustainable core built around Wembanyama and either Harper, Castle, or both.
San Antonio certainly has some interesting decisions to make.
