San Antonio Spurs & De’Aaron Fox agree to max extension. Was it worth it?
Dear Fox and the Spurs have agreed to a max extension. Was it worth it? You are Locked on Spurs, your daily San Antonio Spurs podcast, part of the locked on podcast network. Your team every day. Happy Tuesday. Welcome back to Locked on Spurs right here on the Lock NBA network. I’m your host, Jeff Garcia, Spurs writer for Ken 5 San Antonio. Glad to have you all back. Today’s episode brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances. of Monarch Money. Use code lanb at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. What are we going to be talking about today? Uh yeah, we’re still going to be talking reacting to the Spurs. Darren Fox coming to agreement having a max deal. He has wrapped up uh for the foreseeable future for the Spurs. Uh we’re going to get to the numbers. How does that break down? Our initial reactions and then ask the big question at the end. Was it even worth it? Yeah, there’s so many implications. There’s so many ripple effects that this max deal the Spurs gave Fox is going to have with the Spurs in the medium term. Maybe not the short term, but definitely the foreseeable future. It’s going to come up like that. So, we’re going to be talking about that and more right here on Locked on Spurs. And yeah, need you to subscribe. Keep those subscription numbers going up higher on YouTube. You guys are the everyday. We appreciate it’s going to bring in our guest. Look who’s back to join us here locked on Spurs. Mr. Casey Vieier, it only made sense cuz we we we we make we escaped by the skin of our teeth recording the show over the weekend. And then I was freaking out. I was like, “Oh my goodness, what if I release it?” And I did early in the morning yesterday and like 10 minutes later it happens. But unfortunately, we got a good half a day, Casey, of our thoughts. But uh it’s all but over. It’s looks like Spurs and Fox, they’re good to go, at least for the foreseeable future. Um, let me start off with your reaction, your your your your quick reaction when you heard the news. Uh, I was a little bit surprised, not by the money, uh, because I figured it was going to be max money. That didn’t surprise me. Uh, I’m not as much surprised about the timing because I did think they were going to get the extension done before the start of the year. I was a little bit surprised that they went to the fourth year uh, for both sides. I I I think that on the Fox side of things, it really would have been enticing theoretically to go two years a player option for a third and then you hit that opt out, you have a chance to get an even bigger deal as you near the back end of of your career. And then on the Spurs side of things, this is something we talked about LA we talked about yesterday was they have the the Castle and Harper dynamic to figure out as well. and did they want that to go a little bit more handinhand with Fox’s contract? So, I thought that they were kind of leaning that direction, right? Uh clearly I I was mistaken in that that thought process. So, if anything, I was a little bit surprised about that, but largely for the most part numbers not a surprise. The fact that they got it done is not a surprise to me neither. Yeah. Yeah. My my initial reaction uh actually kind of a three-part reaction. My first one was okay. No big deal. Not a surprise. I felt this was coming. I’m with you. I really felt that it would be a near max. I don’t think it would be at the max. I really thought the Spurs were going to explore keeping some financial flexibility at the end of that extension. More on that later. Uh to help them with other players. Uh but when they locked him up and the news came out that yeah, the Spurs officially announced it too that they locked him up for four years uh at max money. I was like, “Okay.” The second thing that I reacted to was this. This is a sign to me that the Spurs want to win. This is a sign not just to the players to Wimby, but to other NBA free agents down the road that you come to San Antonio, we’ll take care of you. Commitments, promises are being kept. They kept the promise of Chris Paul, you’ll be a starter for the rest of the season. They did that. They probably had a under the table promise to Fox in the Sacramento Spurs trade last season. He’ll get a max contract. Nailed it. done moving forward. And the third one and I get your reaction on this one is I saw the max number right as about 20 22 about 229 and my first thought was that’s Luca money. That’s Luca Donic kind of money. I get why you give Luca this kind of deal but why do you give this to Fox? you know, that was the only kind of like Rave kind of like, you know, wow, you know, they really gave him that Luca Dotic Tyrese Hallebertton money and we’ll get into that later, but those were kind of my reaction to that. Any other reactions you had? I think that it it speaks to their commitment to making the three guard lineup work. I think that’s what it is. I think by you by them giving HM that that fourth year, they’re willing to really go after it and and see what they have there with those three guys. And understandably so. I mean, understandably so. They have the luxury of that ability now. They have the the luxury of at its core, at its baseline, just having three really good basketball players uh at those positions who have a chance to make this team special. But yeah, I think the overriding sentiment for me too, and we we really got a better idea of this a few months back after the draft was that it this is this is this is the team that they’re rolling with now. This is what they the man on your screen right there. That’s that that’s that’s put him back. Let’s put him back. Yeah, might as well. He’s the man of the hour, right? Bring him back. Yeah. Not you. Him. There he is. But but that between him and between Castle and uh Vel and Kell Johnson and you saw it a little bit more at the trade deadline pre-WBY injury uh what what are we going to call it blood clot was that it felt like everybody as a result of the trade is kind of falling into their place of their designed roles for what we anticipated them being and now we’re seeing that again plus the Harper dynamic of it and you have the money to validate that. So, lock it up, go forward. So, this is just kind of a continuation what we saw all the way back in February that this is the team that they’re going to be rolling with. Expect it the rest of the way. And finally, there’s that level of uh uniformity, I guess, that hasn’t been here. There’s always going to be the hypothetical game, but there the hypothetical game, so to speak, is not as rich as it once was. Posing superstars, things like that that there’s no Giannis talk. There’s no Kevin Durant talk. This is it. This is the product and this is what they’re rolling with going forward and they feel good about it. Yeah, exactly. And it also signals to the team, the franchise, other NBA teams and of course possible trade and free agents that you come to San Antonio, your cornerstones are not is not going to just be Wimbe, it’s now Fox. So, right, you can promote that to other players saying like, “Hey, you come to San Antonio, you got yourself a all-star guard and you got yourself an all world center and let’s rock and roll.” You know, how can you help this team moving forward? This is what the NBA is now. And look, and the Spurs are going to have to, you know, keep that going, that two star front, because the NBA to be a good team, you got to have at least two stars. Okay, she showed that last year. you need at minimal two stars uh you know with Williams and Shay. So, and you I think the Spurs have sent out the signal to the rest of the league to the players. You come to San Antonio, we’re about winning. And you know, kudos to the Spurs and Brad Wrath and the management getting it done too because historically the Spurs always been like penny pitches. Oh, they don’t pay max deals. They don’t do this. No, this is like a different time, different era. Unfortunately, there’s no Tim Duncan to give them a hometown discount. That was not going to happen. Uh but uh it’s also too good. It’s a good look. You know, the Spurs dealing with Clutch Sports, that agency that seems to control the NBA and players. So, there’s some good some good vibes there. O overall, it was a good thing they did, but that that that mass money, we’ll get into that in a bit. It’s it’s a little concerning, but again, we’ll talk about that in a while. One more thing before we hit the break here, Casey, I get your thoughts on this is that there’s there is some people on social media, not going to name names, that are saying the Spurs did wrong, that he was thought he’s not a Max player, right? And there’s some legitimacy to that. He’s I don’t know. You know what? Let’s hold that. Let’s let’s hold that thought. Hit the pause, you know, because I Yeah, let’s hit the pause button. All right. So, when we get back, we’re going to discuss that and more. get into the numbers. You know what does the four-year deal look like? Ignore right here on Locked all Spurs again with Casey Verion. Make sure you follow him on X at Casey Vieiera. Hey, but first I want to talk about 5hour energy transfusion. Time to fuel up. Turn it up with 5h hour energy transfusion. It brings the bold great ginger and lime flavor of your favorite golf drink minus the alcohol into a quick energizing shot where you seeking birdies or just making memories with friends. 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The code is not good on subscription orders. So whether you’re meeting up with friends or trying to turn 18 holes into 36, get the energizing boost you need to power through. What a transfusion five flavor 5h hour energy shots today. We’re back here lockdown Spurs joined by Casey Vier. He is on X at Casecore Vier and we’re talking about the Fox Spurs contract extension. Matt’s deal I should say is so much more. You know Casey, we haven’t hit the numbers yet. How does this four-year deal work out? Well, I guess minus next season because next season he’s still under the old contract. So, taking away that, what does it look like? Uh, so we’re looking starting at 26 27 51 28 27 28 55.1 28 29 59.2 29 30 63.3. Again, all adding up to a cool 228.6. 6 million. Yeah. Can you imagine? Can you imagine that? They’re rounding up to$ 229. So technically it’s 228.6. Not that it matters, but yeah. Imagine one day waking up and seeing your banking house, your bank account alert saying, “Hey, you got a deposit.” Exactly. I just Good for him. Listen. Yeah. Good for him. Good for And just to be clear everybody, next season that’s not the beginning of the extension. that we still next next season is only it’s only 37 I believe 37 yeah I have the numbers where’d it go 36.1 you got it yeah 37 so only oh to be a pro athlete but nevertheless uh my first reaction to that is huh backended usually the Spurs operate in doing front loading and then have a descending the Spurs have it the opposite way if it’s backloaded so it’s going to start small and get larger larger and larger. Um, good move or bad move? Uh, I I think that’s a good move because I think that that was what was going to be the case either way. I think there’s I I know they like to I know they like to get cute and frontload a lot of those contracts. Uh, but the thing is they haven’t had to pay that big time number that they’ve have right now. and seeing that this max deal get paid out the way it did, it is a little bit more traditional to have it be backloaded like that. So, that part doesn’t particularly surprise me or Yeah. or anything like that. No, the the number the numbers that you you hit a lot of hypotheticals with the back end of that deal. And not saying that he’s not worth the max money because I think he’s worth market value. I think you you want to pay for a all-star caliber point guard, this is what you get. We talked about this yesterday, Jeff, was not as much the price tag of investing money in the individual, but it’s investing money into the positions and the hypothetical of having to pay him and Harper and Castle. What I guess if just doing kind of the math of what it would be was it would probably be like 450 million guaranteed. That is a legitimate I if you want to be someone and and have a level of skepticism in about this thing about about this deal. I think that’s the main the main degree of skepticism that you have. I don’t think a lot of people are doubting whether or not he’s a he’s a max money guy. he’s he’s getting market value. But I think it is a legitimate conversation though to invest so much money into essentially two positions and you of course going to have to pay Victor a generational contract in some capacity. Not this next one. The one after that is what it’s it’s going to be. The conversation presents itself a little bit of putting too much money into those two guard spots or the two spots I should say. I think that’s fair. Right now I’m not overly concerned by it because I I’ve always been the belief when it comes to Victor you throw normaly out the window including the positionalist basketball you expand that even further you put the four best guys around him possible and if it means you have three guards knock yourself out but for the more the traditionalist it’s fair it’s fair it’s fair to have that concern to put all that money there. Yeah. uh you know with with going into some of the numbers because I know there’s a lot of number geeks out there. Uh the Spurs uh projected salary is about 140 million. This is via Bobby Marks. Um and the salary cap is at 165.4. Uh Markx notes that the Spurs are over the cap because of the Sohan free agency hold. So right now the Spurs have gone over the cap uh with this deal which you know I think that for the Spurs they have to start thinking maybe not this year but quickly apron that you say that word to to management man team a word the a word and they freeze up don’t believe us ask Boston ask Denver uh what you know they’re already on their mind well it’s been on Boston’s mind and they they so they ready say we’re out we’re done you know So although the Spurs are not close to the even the first apron, but it’s going to get there fairly soon. Uh more on that in a bit. My thing is this is that and I talked about in the first segment. This is Luca Dotic money. This is big big money here. And you compare the resumes, you know, Fox is a one time all-star, right? Is a multi- allar. Duke has led Ma Mavericks to the finals. Fox hasn’t led any team that deep in the postseason, right? Um yeah. Uh that’s a lot of cash for and again I’m not trying to throw water in the parade and you know and you know say this is a bad deal. No, I’m glad this first did it. 100% on board with this. I’m glad they locked up. Now they have two all star pieces to build around. But that’s where I was a little stunned that it was at max. I really thought it was going to be like just shy of a near max again to prove it and maybe have as you mentioned the last show have a team option or a player option just an option where they can get in then he gets the difference basically right uh so and but then again then again you know you mentioned market value this is what and then you go outside of Luca this is what the money that other high quality NBA guards are getting Tyresese Hallebert got paid uh Brunson you’re got New York got paid. Now Fox and then of course Luca over the weekend. So, you know, part of me says like, “Yeah, that’s a lot of money for a guy, you know, that can score. You can play some defense, but what has it really done?” And again, I’m just here trying to play devil’s advocate here. What are your thoughts? It’s pay for what you get. It’s pay for what you get. And I and I don’t as much look at the Luca side of it as Fox getting Luca money as opposed to I’ll just name Luca just because it just happened over the weekend. No, no, no. But it’s it’s fair though. I It’s more in my mind, it’s more Luca being underpaid and getting Fox money cuz I think Fox is I think Fox this contract is just about market value for what you’re going to get for an all-star 27y old All-Star caliber point guard. You’re going to have to pay. It’s going to cost it’s going to cost a lot of money. I think the Luca side of it I think Luca is underpaid. So yeah, I think it’s Luca getting Fox money, but then we kind of wait until that contract expires for Donic and then the next one he’s going to be in line with is only going to be that much more valuable on top of that as well. Yeah, I first Oh, go ahead. Sorry. Go ahead. No, go ahead. Go ahead. No, no, no. Go ahead and finish your thought. Mine’s kind of upbeat bat. I I’m not wrapped up by the numbers. Okay. For me, I’m not I’m not I thought it was going to be that projected third of the salary cap that that it take what close to I think 30% of the cap is what it takes. Uh I’m not concerned because the first year of that deal, you’re still going to have Victor on a rookie contract, which is $16 million. So that’s one year. That’s one year out of four you don’t have to worry about. Anyways, I’m not I’m not overly concerned about the dollar sign. I’m not. Yeah. Yeah. And and and in yesterday’s show you and I did, I even put it out there. I said ultimately I think those Spurs are going to like give them the max and then let the chips fall where they may. And I think that’s what Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. And we’ll we’ll see what they do. But you’re right though. You’re paying Fox franchise money right now, but your franchise player you’re going to have for under franchise money for the next two year or two years, right? So, yeah. And you have Castle, uh, who will probably look to get a payday for three years. And you have Harper and hopefully he pans out. We’ll see. But if he does pan out, you know, for three years or four years, right? Well, for Harper, yeah, it would be right. Exactly. for Harp for for Castle it would be two years into that of the Fox contract and then Harper it would be three years into contract and Wimi is two. So right that tells me too Spurs got to win something soon. They got to win something soon before it hit again Spencer. Right. And honestly, I I think the parallel that that you make with this is you see a lot in football when a team has a young quarterback on a very team friendly contract. Uh those first couple years, you saw it last year, it didn’t work out particularly as well, but with CJ Strad on a on a rookie deal off a great rookie season. Texans loaded up some money in there. The one that really worked out is Joe Burrow just a couple years into his into his rookie contract. Yeah. The Bengals loaded up. And this is kind of this is kind of basketball’s version of that because very rarely do you see rookie scale players impactful at this level being able to be built around with stars so immediately that you can afford to do that and you have that luxury of doing that. And that’s something that the Spurs are are doing that. And beyond that, they don’t you you think about some of the guys that are going to be off the books this time next year, like Kell or excuse me, Kell Kell’s two years, but Harrison Barnes off the books. I I have it here, Kelly Linux going to be off, right? Kelly Linux off the books. And so by the time you hit year two of that extension, you have, let’s see, at minimum, you have Fox, Vel, presumably Harper, Cornell, Carter Bryant, Carter Bryant, Castle, and of course, Victor. So, what’s that? Six guys? Yeah. Did I say six guys? What? Whatever number it is, those are the only guys that are under contract in two years when you’re hitting a 55 me mark. Yeah. Yeah. Oh my goodness. Yeah. Hey, Spurs fans ticket price is probably to go up a little higher. Just a heads up. Just a heads up. Probably get a little bit number to pay him $229. Exactly. When we get back when we continue our chat about Fox Spurs, the extension so much more and give our final grade. What are the Spurs to get an A+ or a BF when it comes to giving Fox the contract? Hey, but first want to talk to you about monarch money. Ever wish managing your money felt easier? With Monarch Money, it can be. Whether you’re growing your savings, planning a big purchase, Monarch puts you in the driver’s seat. 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We’re back right here on Lock Sports joined by Casey Vieier. He’s on X at Casecore Vieier. Follow me on X as well at Jeff G Spurs Zone. And uh looking at it again though, man, that’s a lot of cash. You and I would never see that money in her lifetime. That’s generational money, man. Little little lady. I have I might have to have a talk with uh my genetic code. Like, what’s up, guys? You just couldn’t couldn’t give me that little extra push. N be center foot. No. Bill Ford, man. That’s a lot of money, though. Hey, but you know, they they they invested all of it into your forearms. Yeah. They go, “He thought you wanted to be a big guy, not a tall guy.” Yeah. We’re talking about Yeah. There you go. There you go. Yeah. Or or I think I had like one of my coaches at high school. He said like he goes, “You know, when you you got the bill for a boxer.” I was like, “Maybe I should have followed his his uh you know, thoughts there.” Um, but the show would be real fun. Yeah, CTE probably packing your CTE is the last thing it needs, right? Hey, we’re talking about Darren Fox Spurs contract extension. The max contract extension for number four in San Antonio. Overall, you know, I think we’re saying it’s a great deal. They got it done. Got it done quickly. They didn’t let it linger. You know, it’s a commitment to winning. It’s a commitment of Fox. It’s a commitment to the rebuild. is a commitment to winning ASAP because we got something looming ahead and that is we talked about in the last segment. Now we’re gonna really put it under the microscope that is a lot of money is going to be paid next in a couple seasons Casey the Spurs could be looking at at two max contracts on their roster. Wimi and Fox, right? Which begs the question, should they have given him the Max deal knowing that there’s going to be some guys that gonna have to get paid and if they’re not going to get paid, they may be gone. Your thoughts? Yeah, they they had to do it. They had they had to do it. They had to keep him. And you talked about a little bit of an understanding that they might have had when the trade happened back in February. I would not be surprised if that was if that wasn’t already the case. if this wasn’t already in the works for a little while and and even if it wasn’t the max, I mean, it was it was going to be somewhere in this 220 plus ballpark, I I don’t I I think this has been on the Spurs horizon for a little while, uh, to to find, you know, build efficiently with your draft capital, which they’ve done, and then when it presents itself, get an all-star to put next to Victor. And they’ve checked both of those boxes at that point guard position. you know, how how long the root I mean, we thought it was going to be Trey Young this time last year. It ended up being Fox and they did exactly what they were aiming to do presumably on that front to get the All-Star to get that max caliber uh max money player at least next to Victor. I I think we were talking about giving it a grade. I I’m not like blown away by I guess cuz I don’t think I I would have been blown away if he didn’t sign for the Max perhaps. I’m not even entirely sure the way to phrase it. It it it I I don’t want to say I’m not overly impressed because it felt like this was just the way it was going and it felt like this was just kind of the norm and the formality and like you had the confidence that they were going to get it done in some capacity. admittedly and and I said this uh I said this on yesterday’s episode was I was at the time a little bit and I and and I might be guilty because I was kind of talking myself into that three-year option thing and I felt like that could have only been the hiccup that would have been the only hiccup. Uh but I I I think that that that the four-year part of this is ultimately uh what made the difference here uh in Fox and signing off for the trade all the way however many months six months back. I think that that fourth year is what it was. Um I I think he wanted to be here those four years. I don’t think he wanted the the two plus the plus the player option on the three because I think that probably was on the table because if they’re putting four on the opportunity to get more money is at least at least from his agency is being that ball is being you know served back to Spurs management. The thought of that and they reach the I don’t even do you even call 229 a middle ground. I don’t even know. It’s a win either way. Yeah, I was gonna say it’s a win either way for De’arra and Fox on that front, but I desperately they needed to do and I I I give it an A. Not Yeah. Yeah, I’m right there with you. Just doing your job, you know. Yeah, I’m right there with D. You you you took care of your all-star guard. Uh he’s locked up. You you now have two amazing building blocks to possibly get the Spurs out of the rebuild as soon as next season. At this rate, I think they are going to get out of the rebuild as soon as next season. I think they do make a postseason breakthrough, whether that’s a play or a playoff. Either way, they’re gonna, you know, winning. They they got to start winning. As I mentioned earlier, they have to start winning now because this team may look a lot different in the next three to four years. Maybe some will players will not be here anymore. Yeah. And it’s going to happen. So, if they want to win at this core, they got to win now. So, yeah. And they’re they’re going to do that. And other thing too, I don’t think we we hit on it and I’ll get your thoughts on this. I was looking at the um like during the break, you know how it ascends and he gets paid more in the back end. Um that’s not a that’s not a bad trading chip if it’s not. Well, you know what? You know, if this Harper Castle Foxing isn’t working out, right? You know, well, I I think had they not gotten it done by the sixth Yeah. then they would not have been able to trade him if I’m not mistaken. this year or until February there. I I believe they would not have been able to trade him at the deadline if they had signed the extension after that. Um could do I think there’s a world where they would move him? No, I don’t. Cuz I don’t think there’s anything out there right now down even down the road that would warrant doing something as dramatic as that. You never What if be honest? What if Anathy Kubo pops up again? I don’t think Giannis is gonna be an offseason thing, though. Okay, I don’t think Giannis will act out. Yeah, let me rephrase that. I don’t think anything’s going to pop up down the road. Okay, mid-season. That’s me, though. Yeah. I I don’t think Giannis I don’t think Giannis the Giannis thing is out the woods yet, though. No pun intended. Not that not at the woods yet. Yeah. You know, I don’t I just don’t think he’s gonna It would be a mid-season thing. Yeah, for me. Yeah. Uh I just I I do like that aspect of it is it it is it is see what we’re having right here 63 million or 59 and 28 29 63 and 2930, right? That’s a big chunk of money that you can match salaries, right? Maybe a proven commodity in the NBA and have to be honest. Could be somebody else. But you got some money now if you want to if if if this three guard lineup doesn’t work out, right? I think it will. But if it doesn’t, do you want to invest in a guy at that point is maybe it’s still in his prime and he probably will be or rising stars like Harper and Castleman that may not command that kind of money, right? We’ll see. That’s a sign that we’ll see how that works. overall. Yeah. Those those those last two years of that deal, the the 59 and then the 63, if there is some sort of rut here along the way where the the dynamic of the three of them doesn’t work or Fox is the Fox Wy thing in a larger sample size is not is just not happening for whatever reason or they you know they just favor whatever the reason may be the 59 in 63 numbers in the back two for a point guard who was going to be 31 and 31 32 years old at the time. Again, going back to the to the to the skepticism, so to speak, that could be a conversation if things are working. That could probably hamstring you. The good thing is that the Spurs don’t have a ton on the books outside of that right now. Yeah. But that year three, year four of the deal, that much money, it could hamstring you. Uh I’m more of the belief that it will, like I said before start, uh I’m of the belief that it will not. Uh not saying that you’re looking at at a the a true generational point guard at this spot. And I’m not I’m the Spurs did what they had to do and they did the right thing. But we have to be honest with ourselves here. If it bombs, which you never know, the last the back two years of that deal are not ideal. They’re they’re they’re not they’re not. But I I don’t think it is going to bomb to the point that it is going to hamstring. I don’t think so. Championship. I don’t I I don’t know. I’m not going to guarantee that. But I don’t think I don’t think they’re going to get handcuffed by it. No, I I’m with you either. It’s just a luxury to know that if if you need if you want to ship them out and you want to command, you know, a player close to his caliber that’s in that realm and you have somebody to match contracts, you know, right? So you you got that option there. But I don’t see if I don’t for I do believe this three guard lineup will work. The only other regal I can see this maybe it’s for another show is if Harper just really comes on. I mean, he is just this holy smokes, you know, like this guy’s good, you know, why does he come out off the bench? Right. And that’s right. Exactly. And that’s why I had a level of Yeah. going back to yesterday’s episode, a level of skepticism because if Castle or Harper really take an incremental boom, Yeah. between this year and next year, you’re going to want to maximize your assets the best way that they can. So yeah, you would think at that point if they’re all just kind of caught in that log jam, the three of them for two spots and it doesn’t it doesn’t work with the three on the floor at the same time, you’ll have to move one of them at their peak, at least in Fox’s case, or on the rise, which in the latter two, Castle and Harper’s or Harper. Yeah. Castle’s case. And and if it means that you bring a little bit more traditional balance to the roster, you know, you do it, you explore it. If it gets to that point, you do. U again, as as we’ve talked about all the time with Victor, Vic, the only untouchable on this team is Victor. That’s it. And I think the point still stands even now. Yeah, I’m with you, too. He’s still the only one. Yeah, the points still stand in my opinion even now because absolutely continue to maximize whatever which way you can. But in the meantime, I I don’t think there should be any intention to separate the three of Fox Castle Harbor. No. Now, will there be some pitfalls? Maybe a little stumble stumbling out of the gates. Probably. But I think it’ll they’ll get it quick. You got a veteran point guard. Yeah, there’ll be some more. You got a veteran point guard, a Fox, you know, he’ll make the adjustments. He’ll lean the guys, you know, Harper, you know, he’s the the rookie of this, obviously the rookie, so you know, he’ll be likely taking lesser. I think I think it’ll work out. It will work out. And as I forget, outside of Fox, Castle and Harper are really multi-positional, so they got switch and they can make it work. No, I agree. And and what there’s one thing the the magnifying glass is going to be on the Spurs this year and big time. Oh, big time. Yeah. And I hope it doesn’t get to a point when they hit a rut that they, and maybe we shouldn’t worry about this because this has been far from the case, anything the opposite, but they do something impulsively and they separate it. You know, we we’ve seen this team go through all levels of patience and then they hit a rut and the level of concern that comes about whether these three are going to are going to match and then they just blow it up. I don’t think they’ll do it. And I don’t want to say blow it up in the sense that you hit a rebuild, but blow it up in the sense that you try to find more of that traditional balance, if you will. I don’t think they’ll do an impulsive move like that. But for the sake of the conversation, I I I hope they don’t. I mean, give it give it what it’s worth. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We’ll see. You know, I think about that, too. You know, before I hit record for this show, I was like, how do I see the Spurs coming out of the gates next year? I see them coming out hot. just like boom, they’re just riding high, emotions high, and I’d see them in a rut and then it’s, you know, everybody’s jumping off a cliff. I think I can see that. They’ll just come off strong, win a good great little winning streak, you know, four or five games in a row and then maybe two, three games and then every, oh my god, it’s not working. Blow it up. Blow it up. I mean, if they’re if they’re if they’re healthy, there’s no reason not to assume that, right? Yeah. I mean, we we still it’s August it’s August 5th and we still don’t know if Victor is going to be ready for opening night. Exactly. You know what I mean? So again, it’s relative, right? It’s we shall see. We shall see. Exactly. All right. Well, there you have it. A little bit more in-depth conversation about Fox Spurs contract extension, so much more with Casey Vieira. He is on X at Casec_vie. Be sure to give him a follow. Let him know your thoughts on his take on the Fox extension and so much more. Casey, man, we appreciate you coming on again, buddy. It had to be you cuz you were with me pre-contract. It had to be you post contract. Yeah. Had to be had to. I love how you tested me though, saying like, “Man, we dodged bullets. We dodged a bullet.” We did. Yeah. Casey was ready to redo the entire Monday show over the weekend. He was like He was like, “I’ll text you.” I know that that thing that thing we were just hope we were just hoping we were like this deal watch this deal is gonna come out is gonna get done the second and kind of happen second Jeff publishes this thing the deal is going to come out yeah it was close we got a good half day we got a good half day so by the way I like I usually like schedule a lot of the uh promotions of it I deleted every single one after delete delete delete You see, I was I was uh I clipped some of it just to tease it on I saw that. Yeah. Yeah. I Yeah. And I’m glad you did before the announcement. Yeah. And I I paraphrase I said, “Yeah, while they’ll consider uh the two teams should consider the two parties should consider going short of the four years.” And then I count I counted it. Yeah. I I I I counted for between that and the Sham’s tweet there was 19 minutes apart between the two. And so I just went back to the thing I posted. I was like, “Yeah, never mind. Whatever.” I would if I did that, I would have deleted. I said, “Oops, delete. Oh, how did that happen? Oh, well, sorry. It’s I had interaction. You retweeted it. I can’t I can’t delete or retweet any anything that any anything that comes up on Jeff G’s timeline, it’s good for Yeah. Well, thank Well, thank you for that. But, you know, it’s also another good thing. You know, I got to wrap it up soon, but I’m glad they took care of it quick because if this thing had lingered, let’s just say we’re talk we’re having this conversation about it not being we’re Friday. I’m like, uh oh, something’s up. Or even worse. Well, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Or even worse, like, okay. Yeah. Well, for our standpoint, absolutely. I think that’s another reason the Spurs wanted to get it done, too, because I don’t think they wanted this conversation to come about during the middle of the season, especially when things are going rough and and and they’re not and and the Spurs hit their first four-game losing streak of the year and all of a sudden they’re like, “Oh, is Fox going to want to stay?” Even if Fox did, you know, has all intentions of staying and not signing until the off season. Last thing you need is all those those that that negative attention coming about that skepticism those hypotheticals coming about and and all of a sudden getting pressed and post game and they got that all out of the way now. They did. All right. Well, again, thank you Casey taking time out of your schedule to join us here at Loft Spurs. I appreciate everybody else does appreciate as well. And I appreciate y’all everybody for coming to Law Spurs for your first and only spot for all things San Antonio Spurs. Again, we’re on iTunes, Spotify, Ken 5 plus, YouTube. Give us a subscription. keep those subscription numbers going up higher. You guys are the everydayers. I think we’ll be back in a couple days. Um we’re in the offseason mode right now here at Lock Spurs. So about two to three a week. Maybe I’ll give you one to close out the week here at Lock Spurs. But whatever it is, it will be all about the self for black and what’s going on in the offseason and looking ahead to next season. So for Casey Vieira, I am Jeff Garcia. We’re going to put a lock on this episode of Lockdown Spurs.
De’Aaron Fox inked a max extension with the San Antonio Spurs, but should they have?
Host Jeff Garcia and guest Casey Viera dissect De’Aaron Fox’s 4-year max contract deal, exploring his fit and the financial implications for the San Antonio Spurs’ rebuild.
The duo analyzes how young guards Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle could impact Fox’s extension, weighing the pros and cons of the deal. From salary cap considerations to player options, no stone is left unturned.
0:00 Intro: De’Aaron Fox’s max extension with Spurs
5:51 Breaking down the contract numbers and implications
11:38 Comparing Fox’s deal to other NBA stars
17:34 Market value and salary cap considerations
29:08 Potential trade value of Fox’s contract
34:46 Balancing the three-guard lineup going forward
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