The TRUTH behind the Fox signing that haters DON'T want you to hear...

With the De'Aaron Fox signing coming with a lot of controversy, people polarized about the deal, whether it's great or not. The truth behind the deal is even deeper than you'd think. With Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper pegged to be behind De'Aaron Fox in the depth chart by some, that is not entirely the case. There's one aspect that has been completely overlooked in our minds about the Fox extension, including the finances. But not just that, a lot more all coming up on this episode of Spurs Digest. We got numbers to back it up, and I think you'll find it very interesting but let's just start Keenan by just showing i want people to take a look you know there's going to be people that don't like the contract no matter what we say and hey do you i say that's fine i understand the take that like hey he's going to be on the wrong side of 30 with a guy that really relies on his athleticism making over 60 million a year i get that concern i fully do but i want to like play devil's advocate here to those people and hey hype the man up the all star the guy who was 11th in MVP voting two years ago Keenan looking at our point guards the last few years this was our highest percentage played point guard by player two years ago Trey Jones played 100% of his minutes at point guard then you got guys like Bouyeir but mostly Malachi Branham Devonte' Graham Blake Wesley this past year Chris Paul and McLaughlin Jones yeah Fox was there but he actually played 57% of his time at shooting guard just to start before we dive into the numbers and this underrated aspect of this deal Keenan to look at the point guards we've had this doesn't even include Sohan because basketball reference doesn't count him as a point guard but to look at the point guards we've had in Victor Wembanyama's time in the league it's been Chris Paul like a 40 year old Chris Paul and other than that really no starting caliber talent I'm sorry Trey Jones I love you but at the same time I feel like having a guy like Fox just that impact alone could make this team look extremely different this coming season absolutely the league is full of point guards like that's the most important position in the league when you talk about Luca, Shai, Steph and Jalen Brunson, the list goes on and on from there and especially when you have a big guy in Wemby, obviously he's a nuanced big so he has the ability to handle the ball but all bigs need that guard to be able to facilitate to bring the ball up the floor and we haven't really had that, we had Chris Paul and I understand Chris Paul was able to kind of help mentor these guys which De'Aaron Fox is going to be able to step into the role but like we needed a point guard and De'Aaron Fox is a ready-made point guard the thing about Dylan Harper, he's 19 years old, Stephon Castle still growing as a player so like these two guys aren't ready to go in and go play high level playoff basketball right now, the two year the clutch player of the year two years ago is ready to go play high leverage basketball right now and that's what the Spurs we all feel like the Spurs are going to do that, we need a guy like that who can do that, we needed to pay him, you just needed to pay him, yeah you absolutely do and again I also understand people who say like yeah but just because you have a needed position doesn't mean you should pay him, he's a max level guy like I I feel like you know when we look at the stats I don't have the stats from two years ago but the year before he came to San Antonio so the year before last in 2023-24 De'Aaron Fox shot 37% from three on nearly eight attempts per game and then he had a pinky on his shooting hand that required surgery but played through a full season of it which led to this 31% from three that we see now again there is more of a sample size of him being like a low 30 percent shooter but Fox is capable of shooting very very well his athleticism is great and he's so good at other aspects of the game that i feel like again it's like that alone is enough of a reason to say like i think this is absolutely worth it it shows the Spurs are all in but i want to get to the finances real quick Keaton because i actually want to bring up this because i thought it was it was pretty funny i'm sitting upon Matt on Twitter here De'Aaron Fox and max contract will expire the year after Stephon Castle's first extended season and the same year as Dylan Harper's first year of extension eligibility. Chill with the overreactions and doomsday scenarios. Like, this is what we're saying. I don't want De'Aaron Fox to move on to a new team, especially if he's great, because he could be great in a few years. But the fact is, yes, I know there'll be a lot of money eventually tied up in Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, Victor Wembanyama, and De'Aaron Fox, and we're talking a few years from now. But again, the overlap is there, but only for one, maybe two years. It gives the Spurs a lot of flexibility, And if De'Aaron Fox is still very good at that point, but we've decided Dylan Harper, Stephon Castle absolutely is, they're about to hit their primes and they're ready to take over. Fox can still be traded. He's not going to be viewed as a negative asset. I don't, I don't imagine could be, but I feel like that as well. Again, we'll get into how he's going to help Castle and Harper as well. We got some stats to back that up, but finances alone, I do feel like in general, it really doesn't seem that bad. Guys are movable. And at the end of the day, like, yeah, we have a lot of money that we're going to tie up who knows if Castle and Harper are even going to be max contract guys they could be on bargain deals like we had with Dejounte Murray for a few years before we traded him away I'm really not worried too much about the finances now that I look at it a little bit more you know it when his contract expires is when what matters here and think that he is going to be a lesser player at that point in time that's okay but we have to think guards that play similar styles to him Westbrook was a 25-point triple-double in his 11th season in the league. So you have guys like that can also play at that high level. We obviously know Westbrook's a downhill guy. Fox is not the jumper that Westbrook is, but he is that elite athlete that gets to the basket. Even a guy like Derrick Rose coming off of multiple knee injuries, played with the Timberwolves and averaged 18 a game that year. And we knew that was a shell of himself, Derrick Rose, still averaging 18. so a guy like De'Aaron Fox who can still play alongside of great talent and we have to think too he's not gonna have to do it all he has Harper coming along he has Stephon Castle coming along we already have Wemby we'll see what happens with Vassell we'll see what happens with Sohan we'll see what happens with Carter Bryant and what the Spurs have coming in the drafts on the incoming draft so like he's not gonna have to do everything so even if you do see his stats dip to 17 and 8 a game that doesn't mean he's not giving you high level production that just might mean that harper's giving you 20 and 9 and Castle's giving you 17, 4 and 5 or something along those lines obviously these stats are just thrown out there but like those guys are giving you high level production as well yeah absolutely and again like if we look at this deal like i understand the in a vacuum thing but there's there's more to it like there's there's organizational stuff there's the promise they made to Rich Paul and and De'Aaron Fox during the trade that's one thing the Spurs sticking to their word that's one aspect the finance is not going to be as bad as we as we thought and again I think there's a lot of evidence especially now with health being like players longevity is longer than ever now that'll help De'Aaron Fox as well but also the mentorship aspect now we touched on this earlier myself and Brian Keenan but I wanted to dive into this because again we watched the videos like I want to just say like there's a lot of similarities not not complete overlap with how they play but between the guy like De'Aaron Fox and guys like Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper and I want to reiterate again when Fox was in San Antonio this past year he only played 47% of his time at point guard or 43% I should say 57% shooting guard he played alongside Chris Paul and it worked fairly well again very small sample size only a couple games with Wemby but still he can absolutely play off ball so the idea that Harper and Castle that some people are saying are both behind him I don't think is true I know you have your point on the lineups Keenan and maybe we'll get into that in a second but I want to just show some stats here that like show how much De'Aaron Fox can help guys like Castle and Harper develop and I know no one you don't go yeah I paid him a max contract because he's really good he's really good at mentoring the young and so no obviously you don't do that but you combine the amazing production with a guy that can do that and that becomes extremely valuable and if you look here these are the Spurs advanced stats feel free to pause and take a look De'Aaron Fox and Castle are similar in a lot of ways similar amount of points in the paint 49 versus 44 percent points off turnovers very similar 17 to 16 points from two-point range almost identical points from three-point range or percentage of field goal attempts from three-point range almost identical Fox and Castle's areas of scoring are very similar and we see Castle he's so explosive getting to the rim and then Dylan Harper as well Keenan a lefty I know he plays that slower like Cade Cunningham or even like Manu Ginobili style game but there's a lot to learn from Fox and to not have the pressure on guys like Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle yes I know Castle's rookie of the year I know harper's going to be amazing but to not have that pressure on these guys to go out there and carry you to the playoffs with Victor Wembanyama I think it's going to matter a lot too and to me that's worth at least a few million and like i feel like yes i know you don't pay a guy a max for that but it just adds to the value the guy who was 11th and mvp voting two years ago and the clutch player of the year you bring that plus this mentorship and i think the contract like it's the situations are better than i think some people give it credit for it it definitely is better than what people give it credit for one he's already played against alongside a guy like Domantas Sabonis who was a guy who could bring the ball up as a point guard so he had to play off ball there two Malik Monk was on that roster too Malik Monk had the capabilities of playing point guard so he's already played learned knows how to play off ball and can actually do that at a high level two we don't really need Stephon Castle to be an on the ball playmaker consistently, can he score in isolation? Yes. Do we want him to improve in that? Yes. but he is not the guy who's going that needs to have the ball in his hands 24/7 and you can work with two guys who can have the ball in their hands. Think to the finals, who was there? The Pacers and the Thunder. The Pacers had Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith, Aaron Nesmith, that 6'6 kind of defender who can shoot very well we need to hope that Stephon Castle can progress in his three-point shot, he can be that kind of style guy even to an umpteenth degree because he's a much better athlete than Aaron Nesmith even though Nesmith is a very good athlete, Nembhard and Haliburton both brought up the ball, they both played minutes together and if Dylan Harper is as good as we think he possibly can be on the defensive side of the basketball, we're good because he can just go defend and then De'Aaron Fox can bring it up or you can stagger their minutes, they don't have to play each of them can play 36 minutes but play 18 to 20 minutes together, they can head both units, so now we have a guy at point guard for 48 minutes a game who is either Fox or Harper. I'm good with that. I'm chilling with that. I'm happy with that. I'm happy with that, too. And look, I know there's one concern that a lot of people are going to bring up, and it's shooting. But look, we can fill that void when we get to it. We brought in Kelly Olynyk, and we still have Harrison Barnes for now, and we still have Julian Champagnie, so we have some shooting from the guard spot. And reminder, again, Fox, just a year ago, was 38% from three on eight attempts a game. So, like, it's not crazy to say that De'Aaron Fox can get back to, like, 35%. 36 percent especially with the Spurs spacing and if he's at about that and you have Julian Champagnie who can knock down some threes Harrison Barnes stays around 40 percent Kelly Olynyk spaces the floor Wemby improves it's going to look better than than it looks on paper right now and I'm not saying the problems are all solved because no I think that would be certainly be a stretch but there's like there are concerns with this team but watching this team grow and watching how this lineup works with Wemby because like also like playing with Wemby is like you almost can't predict a lot of how this team is going to look because of the gravity that he's going to have and how he evolves as a player so a lot of it revolves around him too but look i'm saying haters don't want to hear what we had to say the haters don't want to hear how good of a situation this is maybe you're a hater and if you are don't mind i'd love to hear your thoughts on this down below tell us why we're completely wrong people who are good with this tell us why we're right but we'd love to hear from you down below because that'll do it for this episode of Spurs Digest if you enjoyed leave a like comment subscribe to the channel thank you for tuning in every single today almost at 10,000 if you stayed here right to the end of this 12 minute video really appreciate you just check if you're subscribed because if you haven't we got content coming every single day i'm josh goss my host enid warner we'll catch you in the next one