Spurs already had their burning question answered when no one was looking

Barely 50 games into De'Aaron Fox's time with the San Antonio Spurs, and he has already made a strong impression. He has surprised many fans, myself included, with his selflessness, making him seem almost tailor-fit to be a Spur despite having spent his first seven seasons with the Sacramento Kings.

If that doesn't humble you, I don't know what will. Fox's willingness to embrace a new role, and even thrive in it, proves that the team made the right move trading for him.

He is shooting well from three, and his improvement as a shooter has allowed Stephon Castle to play point guard, helping to accelerate his development. That was something that Castle rarely did as a rookie but is getting plenty of reps now.

Although Castle has struggled at times with turnovers, when he plays alongside Fox, that has been much less of an issue. He has seemingly been a steadying force for both Castle and the Spurs. And when Fox plays without the ball, it creates an opportunity for the Spurs to play him alongside Castle and Dylan Harper.

De'Aaron Fox has made playing the point guard trio together possible

Thus far, that point guard trio has only played sparingly, some of which is due to injuries to each player. Hopefully that will become a more common lineup pairing.

The trio could help San Antonio get out in transition, get high-percentage shots in the halfcourt, and help each other and whoever else is on the floor with them get easier baskets. Right now Castle and Harper have both struggled at times to play without the ball, with both having sketchy jumpers.

Each player is shooting below 30% from deep, though they have both shown flashes from outside, with Castle hitting four threes against the Oklahoma City Thunder in their second meeting. Meanwhile, Harper drilled five threes in the NBA Cup Finals, a game where his stats actually didn't count.

Go figure. To their credit, both continue to launch threes and occasionally make them. That has kept teams from completely ignoring them from outside, while Fox has added a new facet to his game.

De'Aaron Fox is spurring the Spurs' offensive success

He has seen his attempts in the paint decrease even as his average number of drives to the rim still ranks in the top 20 in the NBA. However, with him shooting 34% from three on 6.2 3-point attempts per game, he can still score efficiently without dominating the ball.

San Antonio has used Fox in clever ways too, including having him use more off-ball screens to get open. That's helped him attack the paint with a full head of steam without having to hold the ball for half of the shot clock.

It may lead to inconsistent results with him not scoring 20 points every game, but San Antonio doesn't need him to either. They have a balanced offensive attack with several players each capable of leading the team in scoring on a given night.

Still, Fox provides San Antonio with a big-game performer who can take over during key moments. On Christmas Day, he dropped 29 points against the Thunder and constantly put pressure on OKC while taking pressure off his teammates to score.

Teams will always have to account for Fox even when he isn't the focal point of the offense, and his willingness to play off ball is spurring the team's offensive success.