Stephon Castle’s Rookie of the Year win and Dylan Harper’s selection with the No. 2 pick of the 2025 NBA draft reportedly has some insiders wondering how De’Aaron Fox fits into the future of the San Antonio Spurs’ backcourt.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, people around the NBA are wondering how “automatic” the San Antonio Spurs’ decision to extend De’Aaron Fox will be with both Castle and Harper already signed for multiple years.
Fox, acquired via trade with the Sacramento Kings in February, is currently set to hit unrestricted free agency after the 2025-26 season.
As of Sunday, he is eligible to sign an extension worth up to four years and $223 million.
ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel meanwhile reported Sunday that “the talk around the NBA” is that Fox will likely sign “an extension worth slightly less than the max.”
The Spurs’ decision regarding Fox will come in the wake of the Los Angeles Lakers deciding to extend Luka Dončić, similarly acquired via trade during the 2024-25 season, on a three-year, $165 million maximum extension that will stop him from hitting free agency next summer.
General manager Rob Pelinka said in a statement after the contract was finalized that the extension meant “Luka Dončić’s future is with the Los Angeles Lakers.”
Dončić was eligible for the same four-year deal Fox is, but choosing a three-year contract with a player option will give Dončić the opportunity to sign an even larger extension at an earlier date.
The Spurs will need to decide how much of a similar commitment the team wants to make to Fox, specially given that Victor Wembanyama will be eligible for an extension next summer.
Fox saw his production dip after last winter’s midseason trade from the Kings, going from averaging 25.0 points per game in Sacramento to 19.7 per contest in San Antonio.
He had season-ending surgery in March to repair a tendon in his left hand, and injury the Spurs said he had been playing through since October.
Having the offseason to recover from that surgery mean an offensive resurgence for Fox, who had averaged at least 23 points per game in six straights seasons heading into the 2024-25 campaign.
But the Spurs will need to consider upcoming negotiations with Wembanyama, who will be eligible next summer to sign a five-year, $271 million extension that would kick in in 2027, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
Limiting the money and term on Fox’s extension could help the Spurs maximize the flexibility they will have to build around Wembanyama, Castle and Harper going forward.
