After receiving another shellacking at the hands of another Western Conference foe, every Spurs fan has the same question on their mind. "When is De'Aaron Fox going to play?" While nothing official has been announced by the organization, Coach Mitch Johnson gave a loose timeframe for when Fox can be expected to join the guys on the Rodeo Road Trip that just kicked off with a whimper.
"If there is a opportunity for De'Aaron and Jordan as well to meet us in Atlanta and be ready to go, they'll be ready to go." - Coach Johnson in his pregame presser.
— Paul Garcia (@PaulGarciaNBA) February 4, 2025
As @JMcDonald_SAEN mentioned on Blue Sky, Fox is still TBD to play Wednesday.
If the former Sacramento star joins the team tomorrow against the Hawks, it will have only taken four days and one game for reinforcements to arrive. It's imperative to get Fox started on gaining chemistry with this team. Last night's game put the Spurs' weaknesses on blast once again. The only good thing about it was it was a League Pass game, so nobody really saw it.
Fox will alleviate several issues for Spurs
San Antonio wanted to run a bunch of Chris Paul/Victor Wembanyama pick-and-rolls at the beginning of the year, so they did. It had mixed results, but they just needed to work on their chemistry. Once they got it going, it was just about what you envisioned with a point guard who could reliably deliver the ball to the best player on the floor.
However, defenses began to adjust by simply collapsing on Wemby, cutting off his dive to the basket, or only showing on Chris Paul coming off the pick before closing out on Victor's pop attempt. The issue was clear: teams don't respect CP3 as a scorer anymore.
Part of the response to this has been to let Stephon Castle run the offense more, putting Paul in a spot-up position. Castle is wise beyond his years, and he's fearless, putting relentless pressure on the rim and forcing teams to respect the ball handler. He's been awesome in an elevated role, but he's a rookie, so he's inconsistent and still working on the nuances of running a team.
Fortunately, he no longer needs to worry about running the team with Fox on the roster. The former Kentucky star has plenty of experience in that area. He'll put pressure on the rim, pull up for midrange buckets, and make defenses pay for mistakes consistently.
The former lottery pick has been getting buckets in the NBA for years. When he was drafted, many experts predicted that he'd be a better player than Lonzo Ball, who went before him. Ball has had some gruesome injury misfortune, but those analysts were right based on what we saw before Ball went down.
He has experience playing with another elite big man in Domantas Sabonis, so he knows how to let the big fella' go to work. Respectfully, Wemby is on another level from Sabonis, so the sky is the limit for a duo. Closing has been an issue for this team since 2025 began, and Fox is one of the best in the business when it comes to slamming the door in his opponent's faces. We need that.
We'll keep this article updated with announcements on Fox's game status.
De'Aaron Fox update
De’Aaron Fox and Jordan McLaughlin are questionable for tomorrow’s game since not all physicals in the trade have been completed. Spurs hope everything gets done and they can play tomorrow.
— Michael C. Wright (@mikecwright) February 4, 2025
De'Aaron Fox update 2: Fox will suit up against Hawks
Spurs have upgraded Fox and McLaughlin to available for Wednesday night at Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/xVOmrSCUg6
— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) February 5, 2025