Disappointing De'Aaron Fox injury news threatens to repeat a Spurs problem

Media Day is exciting because you finally get to see the coach and players again, as they sit in front of the media to answer questions about their summer and the season ahead. It's the first real sign that the NBA is returning. But it also comes with bad news, like the possibility that the Spurs' franchise guard De'Aaron Fox's hamstring injury puts him at risk for a Devin Vassell-like season from last year.

Now, thankfully, Fox won't be out as long as Vassell was, as he's set to miss five games compared to Dev's nine. However, it's a question of consistency; something the 6'5" wing from Georgia struggled with when he returned to the lineup. The hope this offseason was for everyone to be healthy coming into training camp. It's their best chance for real practice time. That's been compromised.

Fox and Wembanyama will miss valuable time together

D. Fox said it himself during last season's exit interview: "We want to be the best pick-and-roll combo in this league." That doesn't happen overnight. They have to practice together and get plenty of reps in. They can't do that with Fox sidelined. A hamstring injury may not be the same as a foot injury, but both restrict you from getting on the court and going full speed.

Swipa is still new to the team, so he needs to play with these guys every chance he gets. One of the reasons they put off the surgery on his thumb at the end of last season was so he got a chance to work with his new teammates. Chemistry is everything in a team sport, and there's no way for them to build it right now.

When Vassell went through similar circumstances last season, he struggled with consistency for most of the year. We don't want the same thing to happen to Fox. Now, he'll have the ball in his hands more, and he'll take more shots than Devin did, so maybe, and hopefully, that will help him out of any potential funk, but we won't know until he takes the court.

But what about his jump shot? We'll need him to take shots from the outside, and you have to wonder if he's had as much of a chance to work on that as he hoped at the start of the offseason. So, while he's working off rust and fighting for consistency, he'll still be acclimating to his new teammates and ironing out the kinks of the pick-and-roll game on the fly.

Can these things be overcome? Yes. Is there a chance he hits the ground running and there's nothing to worry about? Yes. But after seeing a similar situation with Vassell last season, it's fair to worry about the same thing happening to Fox, and this team has high aspirations this year, so starting this way isn't ideal.