The Spurs knew exactly what they were doing with De'Aaron Fox's contract

Folks have piled on De'Aaron Fox all summer, even calling his contract one of the worst in the league, but let's be real: that's not even close to the truth... yet. If he were on a mid-level deal, fighting through pain in the postseason, maybe he would have been seen as heroic.

But since he's to be paid so much and faltered, with an eventual star trailing behind him, the microscope is intensified. Some of that comes with the territory of high expectations, but that doesn't exempt people from being rational.

Common sense tells us that the Spurs walked into this with their eyes wide open. They may not have known they'd land Dylan Harper when they traded for Fox, but they certainly knew when they extended Swipa. I'd say the returns have been pretty damn good so far.

The definition of a "bad contract" is misunderstood

A genuinely bad contract does one of two things: it locks the roster into a shape it can't escape, preventing the team from making moves to better their chances of winning. Or two: it belongs to an overrated player who hurts the team for no reason other than being kind of bad at his job. Fox belongs in neither camp.

Which is why people always say, "He's still a really good player," as a qualifier to their hot takes. Why would the Spurs want to give away talent? Because they have too much?

San Antonio still extended Julian Champagnie and Victor Wembanyama this summer. They still signed Tobias Harris, and are sitting as the favorites, co-favorites, or close favorites to win the championship, depending on where you look. They have the deepest roster in the league.

Fox didn't stop the team from getting better, and they're fresh off a deep trip through the postseason that ended in the final round, so he didn't hamper their success there either. Don't forget, he started every game he suited up for during the run.

Harper's rise shouldn't erase what Fox already did

Five NBA Finals games don't dictate a season. They shouldn't decide how everyone feels about his place on the team. Just before the Spurs/Knicks series kicked off, Fox was praised for his efforts, helping San Antonio get through the Western Conference Finals. They wouldn't have made it without him.

Funny how quickly things can change, but again, that's partially because of how well Dylan Harper played against New York. We need to be able to separate the rise of Harper from the story surrounding Fox, though.

The strongest version of Fox criticism isn't about money. It's this. It just needs to be packaged differently. "Fox is overrated, overpaid, and has to go" is different from "Fox may eventually lose his job to a younger, cheaper star-in-the-making." That's actually a normal roster story that happens to veterans all the time.

However, we shouldn't be in a rush to discard good players because he is still that—a good player. We'll be reminded of that when the ball tips off in late October, and hopefully, the noise will be put to rest until San Antonio actually has to make a move.

Now, if Harper supplants him, and he's making that much money from the bench, we can talk. Until then, we're not quite there with a "bad contract' just yet.

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