When the basketball gods handed San Antonio the No. 2 pick and the chance to draft highly-touted point guard Dylan Harper, there were questions in other front offices if the Spurs might play hardball in negotiations with De’Aaron Fox and not give him the max that was expected after a mid-season trade for the former All-Star.
No, they paid him the max.
The Spurs and Fox agreed to a four-year max contract that could be worth up to $229 million, his agent Rich Paul told ESPN’s Shams Charania, then the team itself confirmed a few hours later. (The actual total for the contract likely be closer to $222.4 million, the $229 million figure is based on the salary cap going up 10% next year, while the NBA projects it will rise by 7%.) This is a straight four, with no options for the player or team, and kicks in for the 2026-27 season, keeping Fox under contract until the summer of 2030.
The Spurs traded for Fox at the deadline in a massive three-team deal (which included Zach LaVine to the Kings) after Fox’s representatives reportedly told Sacramento management he would not sign an extension with the team, partially due to frustration with the firing of coach Mike Brown (and Fox getting some blame for that online). Fox had previously questioned if the Kings were committed to “competing at a high level.”
San Antonio was Fox’s preferred landing spot, giving him the chance to pair up with Victor Wembanyama on a team building a contender. However, Wembanyama and Fox only played five games together before the French center was out for the season due to blood clots in his shoulder (from which his now cleared). Fox averaged 19.7 points per game, shooting 27.4% on 3-pointers — both numbers well below his career averages — in 17 games before ending his season in March to undergo finger surgery.
San Antonio is a patient organization and coach Mitch Johnson is expected to spend this season figuring out how Fox, Harper and reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle fit together — and especially how they mesh with Wembanyama. The expectation around the league has been that the Spurs will eventually have to move on from at least one of their guard trio (trading one or two for wing players), although this Fox contract ends right when Harper’s second contract would kick in, so the timing may work out. Fox, especially if his numbers dip, will be challenging to trade on this new contract. Wembanyama can sign an extension after next season, and it would kick in for the 2027-28 season.
So far, the trade from Sacramento to San Antonio has worked out as well as Fox hoped. Now he needs to earn that money on the court.
