Spurs quietly have a huge De'Aaron Fox problem on their hands

What a difference a season makes for De'Aaron Fox. Last season, he was on a sinking Sacramento Kings ship before being traded to the San Antonio Spurs.

Now, he is on one of the best teams in the NBA and is coming off his second All-Star appearance. Everything is all well and good, right?

Although Fox has seamlessly fit into what the Spurs are trying to do on and off the court, he hasn't stood out offensively yet. Despite averaging 19 points and 6.2 assists, Fox's performance falls short of his full potential.

Part of that has to do with how Coach Mitch Johnson is using him. This season, he is having Fox play off-ball much more than ever before in his career.

Having him play shooting guard while Steph Castle handles playmaking responsibilities makes sense in theory. After all, Castle isn't nearly the shooter that Fox is, and by having him play with the ball in his hands, teams are much less likely to leave him open.

That essentially shoehorns Fox into playing shooting guard, and while he has shot the ball fairly well this season, it's also meant that he has had to adjust his game.

De'Aaron Fox is playing good but not great for the Spurs

That has led to inconsistent results. One game he'll go for 25 points; the next two he'll go for 14 and 17, respectively. That inconsistent play has already gotten Spurs fans' attention.

Some have even questioned whether he is worth a max contract. Most agree that he was never worth a massive contract to begin with. But him steering his way to San Antonio meant that they would have to reward him.

Even so, acquiring him at that price and paying him on the backend was worth it, at least in the short term. Things are great now, but what if Fox averages around 19 points and 6 assists per game for the next couple of seasons while making $50 million plus?

The Spurs must make the most of their time with De'Aaron Fox

The answer would be to move on from him, which might happen whether he is playing well or not. San Antonio has a clear four-year window with the core of Victor Wembanyama, Fox, Castle, and Dylan Harper.

After that, they will likely have to trade Fox and move forward with a core of Wembanyama, Castle, and Harper. Of course, there's plenty of time between now and then, and San Antonio needs Fox to be a legitimate second option behind Wemby.

However, the way they've used him thus far hasn't allowed him to play to his full potential. That's a problem.