De’Aaron Fox’s MASSIVE Payday Raises Eyebrows | Can the San Antonio Spurs Contend with Him?

De’Aaron Fox’s MASSIVE Payday Raises Eyebrows | Can the San Antonio Spurs Contend with Him?

On today’s show, Darren Fox signs a max extension with the Spurs. Is he worth it? I’m not fully convinced, but I think the Spurs are going to be really good. Let’s talk about that in more locked on NBA game night. When that final buzzer rings, you know it’s time for Locked On NBA Game Night. All the postgame reactions to every game across the league, every single night with insights only the hosts at Locked On can provide. It’s the true NBA fans one stop for all the action every game every night. It’s locked on NBA game night tipping off now. And welcome. You’re locked on NBA Game Night. My name is Nick Angstead, host of Locked on Mavericks Podcast, part of Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks for being in every day or making lockdown NBA your first listen. Today’s episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use the code lockdown NBA for 50% off your first year. You’re joining me from the great Locked on Knicks show. What you got for me, Gavin Shaw? What’d you see in the NBA tonight? Oh, well, no games on. I I noticed that we’re we’re we’re matching uh which we didn’t plan. And we’re wearing Spurs colors, so I would say appropriate attire given what we’re going to talk about today. Dressing for the occasion. If only we could be dressed as well as Dear Fox going to be dressed after his extension. We’ll talk about him and Webby as a duo. Where does that duo rank in the West? Is Fox a top 10 guard? Is he a top end point guard? We’ll talk about that. We’ll break down if he’s worthy of the max extension. Then of course, we’ll play Count it up where kind of the most interesting fun things in the NBA, including Tyrese Hallebertton and his heel turn towards the New York Knicks and more of that. So, we’ll get into all that, but let’s start here. Darren Fox does sign his extension. It is a 4-year $229 million maximum extension according to Clutch Sports. CEO Rich Paul told ESPN. They have to spec specify the agent forever now. Uh I don’t think that will ever end. He’ll get paid $51 million starting in the 202627 season. So, next season, the season coming up. The extension does not kick in yet, but he doesn’t have a player option in the deal goes four years. And let’s hear from our guy Jeff Garcia on this deal. And if Fox is worth a deal like this. Well, this sends a sign, a signal, I should say, uh, to Wimi, more importantly, and Fox, too, that they’re willing to do whatever it takes to keep these players around. It’s a signal to Wimby that look, we’re giving you an all-star point guard, somebody to build around, and also sends a sign to the rest of the league that San Antonio could be a destination team with Fox and Wimi at the helm. Moving forward, Fox turned in again to pushing forward. You might ask yourself, well, did he deserve one? Did he deserve a Max deal? There were some critics saying that maybe he doesn’t. But overall, I believe he does. you know, first of all, since entering the league till now, you know, outside of last season because he was injured with a finger. Uh, you know, he showed a consistent level of high production on the offensive end, he’s obviously an all-star caliber player. So, there’s that check. Second of all, even though he did not play as many games he did for the Spurs last season, still averaged 19.7 points per game, 6.8 points assists per game, and 4.3 rebounds. Again, that was with a bum finger. So, imagine him coming back 100%. actually pretty pretty good. Is Dear Fox worth the max extension, Gavin? Do you agree with our guy Jeff Garcia here? Uh, probably not in a vacuum. I I think in in San in the context of what the Spurs have going on, I I would say so. I mean, Jeff makes the point. Uh, San Antonio, despite their success and arguably being the best franchise in the sport over the last two and a half decades, uh, has not really been a free agency destination. Uh, Lamar is really disagree. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I was going to say he’s he’s really the only example of of a star choosing to go there, unless unless I’m just blanking someone out. But, uh I I think given that um and the fact that they probably made a promise to Dear Fox, I would I would guess even before that trade went down and that’s why he was he was like, “Nope, San Antonio. Nowhere else. I’m I’m going to San Antonio.” Um and it would be a bad look in in terms of the relationship with Fox. It would be a bad look in terms of the relationship with Rich Paul to reneg on that. And there’s just like I I don’t necessarily know what else they would do with it. Like free agency to some extent is dead in the NBA. Kevin Pelton made this point in his uh grading of the deal for ESPN. Like San Antonio would have had $50 million in cap space next summer, but Dear Fox likely would have been the best free agent available. Now in terms of just like the specific value for the player, obviously complicated by the fact that they got incredibly lucky in the lottery. Uh you know something about Batnik covering the Dallas Mavericks. um and going up and getting Dylan Harper and the fact that like him Harper Castle is just not a particularly good fit. Three guards, none of whom are excellent shooters. So, I I question the long-term fit. I question the positional value. We’ll talk about it. I’m dubious that Darren Fox is the top 10 point guard in the league. I’m dubious that his game is going to age incredibly well. Um but I think for the Spurs, it’s ultimately fine. And the great thing about having Victor Webbyama is you have you have a pretty significant margin for error the next three years while he’s still on a rookie contract. Yeah, the point about is did the Spurs just agree to this beforehand? Do you think going back the Spurs would say, “All right, maybe we shouldn’t agree on this deal or if they knew if they knew going into this draft in this lottery they’re going to get Dylan Harper.” The question is, would they have made the move for Darren Fox or would they try to do a different move? And I think that is that’s a question we can’t know. That’s a question that I I would love to know if they’re like, “Oh man, we’re just It’d be great if we could get a really elite wing with this spot instead of having some redundancy here with Harper, Castle, Fox, even like Vel still.” Like like it is an interesting guard group that I’m not really sure what they what they do with. I It’s hard for me to say if he’s worth the contract or not. Last five seasons, 25 points a game, six assists, a steal and a half, just 2.7 turnovers. He did have that 60-point game uh in against Minnesota. They lost that game by the way, but but still in overtime. Clutch player of the year in 2023. All-Star third team allNBA that year, but hasn’t been in either of the last two seasons to the All-Star game or AllNBA. And I don’t know that he’s going to make it for a while. Like the West is just so stacked with all the different players. It’s hard for me to like give a max contract to a deal like this, but I kind of think the Spurs also still had to do it. It’s one of those weird things where you’re like, what else are you going to do with it? Like you said, you got you got the if you get the cap space, who are you getting that’s better than De’Aran Fox and you’re probably not getting one. Yeah. And look, I mean, sunk cost fallacy, but you you it was a good deal for Dear Fox. You still gave up, I think, three first round picks, like regardless of if they were your own. It’s a bad look to say, “All right, we’re going to go ahead and and try to trade him somewhere else.” When Sacramento, like in the same context of him being an expiring contract, clearly could not get a better deal than what San Antonio offered. So, they were they were in a tough position. I I I still think like it is ultimately going to be a pretty good fit between him and Victor Wimyama. You have to remember like Fox only got to play 17 games for the Spurs before he I think broke his finger and was out for the season. Only five of those games, Victor Wman. So, we really don’t know what those two look like as a duo. My main concerns are about how his game ages like like the jumper is obviously the biggest thing there. You go back to 23-24. He showed flashes of being just a completely different level of a shooter than he’d ever been in his career. 38% from three, far and away a careerhigh, taking eight threes a game, which was also far and away a careerhigh. last season didn’t come anywhere close to replicating that in San Antonio. I think he only shot 17% from three. His rim frequency has been trending downwards the last few years. Was up a little bit in those 17 games on the Spurs. He shot terribly at the rim in those 17 games on the Spurs. Again, small sample size, but was just 61%. We’re talking about a guy, Nick, three years ago, he was 77% at the rim. That was the best mark for any point guard in the NBA. Like, this is a guy who’s defined by just like 99th percentile quickness, right? you don’t get the Swipa nickname for nothing. Um, if that starts going downhill and he doesn’t compensate with the three-pointer to to be fair, he is an elite mid-range player. 48% last season, at least 46% for mid-range on a high volume each of the last four seasons, but that’s not an area you really want to live unless you’re Chris Paul or Kevin Durant. Just one of those unique talents. So, I have questions about the fit and and I’m curious how his game ages. Like, I think worst case scenario, he’s still an average point guard two, three, four years down the line. You just don’t want to be allocating that type of money um to to a mediocre point guard potentially when he’s entering his age 31 or 32 season. I think Swipo from Locked on Nuggets got the nickname Swipo without doing anything. So I think Well, he’s he’s elite elite podcasting speed, man. He he gets him out. True. True. Um the the pull-up jumper, the the attacking at the rim. I wonder if some of the rim finishing numbers are better with Webby spacing the floor. Sure. That’s that’s something I think with with this team that that he can improve on that he can see a new way that the offense is set up and all that. I think that leaving Sacramento does some some wonders for for your team. He had Sabonis like clogging the paint there for a little while because he’s incredible rebounder and that’s where they had him. I wonder if that if that geometry of the court changes a lot with with WBY. I mean last year pull up jumperwise he shot he took like eight a game shot over 40% on those which doesn’t sound that great but he shot better than Curry Anthony Edwards Luca Tatum Harden like some of these he’s taken really tough shots he’s hitting a bunch of these pull-ups he is a you know is a scorer that gives him something in that mid-range area and I think that’s something that’s big for him. The three-point shooting does have to improve. If you if you’re talking about these the Spurs team as a potential like finals team if that’s what is that’s the direction we’re going in the next couple of years then I think he would have to improve in that area and that’s something that I think the Spurs need to look at like all right can dear Fox take us to that level and if not then where are we going with this coming up let’s talk about is he a top 10 guard top 10 point guard I don’t know about either of those and is that worth the max I’ve got questions talk about that on lock game night continues coming up today’s episode of lock me gay night is brought to you Five hour energy. I don’t know about you, but when I hit the links, the golfing, I get the golf clubs out. I don’t do this. Don’t tell five energy. I don’t golf, but I need a little bit of an extra shot of energy going into the back nine. You’re going through, you’re like, “All right, I need some extra juice in my swing.” And five energy can help you get that. 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Whether you’re meeting up with friends or trying to turn 18 holes into 36, get the energizing boost you need to power through. Order transfusion flavored 5 energy shots today. [Music] Thanks for hanging out with us on Locked on NBA Game Night. No games, but through the season we got tons of games. We do have shows still going on. Locked on Knicks link in the description. Locked on Mavs link in the description as well. You can check out locked on Spurs with Jeff Garcia and he’ll be talking about all the about this WBY stuff. has an instant reaction up already as we’re recording this, so go check that out. We’re talking about Darren Fox, and you posed a question to me when we were talking about this topic. Is he a top 10 guard? Like, is he a top 10 lead guard, point guard, whatever we want to classify these guys as right now? Because if you’re giving somebody the max, you would assume that they would be top 10 at their at their position potentially, right? And I started to go through it and you’ve got top 10 like guard, lead guards, whatever you want to call these, like what do I count Donovan Mitchell? He’s got the ball in his hands a lot. He’s probably like an offball guard. He’s got Dary Scarland there, but I don’t know. Luca, SGA, Curry, Hallebertton, Donovan Mitchell, Jaylen Brunson, Cade Cunningham. I think we would all agree that those guys are are better than Darren Fox as of right now. Yeah, I have the same I have Jaylen Brunson a little higher. I’m biased, but uh yeah, but but same list. Sure. Maybe not necessarily in order, but just Sure. Sure. Sure. I agree. That that’s about that that is probably my that is actually exactly my like top six or seven, too. So, I’m with you. Then what do you do with Harden who just made all NBA like still a really good guard Darius Garland, Devin Booker, Trey Young, John Morant, Kyrie, Maxi, Jamal Murray. Like now now I’m probably falling off for sure. But which which ones of those did you look at and say, “All right, I think you’re better than Darren Fox right now.” Uh, almost all of them. I have I have him I don’t know if you mentioned him. I I have him behind Trey Jamal Murray. I really like Tyrese Maxi. that might not be justified, but I I just think that he’s very similar player to dear Fox, but clearly a better shooter. So, that’s the separator to me. Kyrie coming off an ACL, I think, is a good debate. We we’ve just seen him do it in high level playoff games over the years in a way we have with Foxo, at least for next season. I I might lean Kyrie. Totally fair if you want to take D’Arren Fox over him. And then I had Fox slightly ahead of Garland, Morant, LaMelo Ball. I I was I I didn’t even have James Harden down as a point guard on my list. I would probably take Fox over Harden given some of the playoff issues. As a regular season player, I think Harden is probably better still. I think I would take Harden after the year he just had even with the playoff like we’ve only seen one playoff series with Fox, right? Like he was good. He was really Sacramento. I mean, we’ve only seen we’ve only seen one. So, I I don’t know. It’s interesting to me. I I think all the guys above him are worth a max contract. I think that that you named was there one that you named above Fox that you’re like I don’t know if that guy would be worth a max. Um I mean Kyrie given the age he didn’t age he didn’t get one. Kyrie just just signed in his extension. Yeah. Other than that no I mean Jamal Murray maybe some questions just because of like how his game is aging but he was he was still I think good enough and is just such a playoff killer. So no I I I don’t think so. I think all those guys deserve the max. I came away from I came away from this list a little bit more encouraged in Fox’s spot than I think I was going into this list. I think it’s this weird thing, right, where where are you judging the guy relative to the NBA as a whole or relative to his position in terms of value where where you see there’s like this constant scarcity and chasing of wings. And it gets to the idea like in bigger playoff matchups, in later rounds, like can you play three guards together? And we’ve seen teams do aversion of that, but mostly like teams trend towards like bigger, more defensively sound wings and and that is like exactly the issue that is facing the Spurs. Like it’s not how good is Fox in a vacuum. It’s like how good can he be in the context of you getting all your best players on the court at the same time. And to be clear, I think for next season, Nick, that’s not really much of an issue for them. Like they’ll probably start Fox and Castle together. If they don’t and they want to go a little more veteran, you you can easily bring Castle and Harper off the bench. Like I I don’t think this is a next season issue. I think this is two, three, four years down the road if Castle and Harper keep getting better and you’re looking at those guys and saying, “Do they all make sense?” Harper is big and projects he’s a good defender. Castle, I believe, is like 66 and is super physical. So, there’s a world where like if the jumpers continue to improve, like maybe that’s like a brilliant three-man guard unit. I think just where their games are at right now and it just seems like it’s going to be a long road for Castle to be a good three-point shooter, right? Just 29% last season. It’s just hard to imagine them all together and to me that is like such a significant part of the context like where you have to look at like all right where does he rank amongst guards? It’s interesting because they’re not necessarily a two timelines team but Fox is 27. He’s in his prime. He’s signing this contract and then they have all these young guys that are really really young like first second year of their of their career in all this. It’s they’re not a two timelines team, but you do have this is Fox just kind of a placeholder for for those guys. And maybe that’s that’s a good one. But then you look at how the contracts lay out. They’re going to have to make a decision here in the next couple years. Weby’s deal kicks in the year after this Fox extension kicks in. Then Castle’s extension could start there. Then Harper’s extension the year after that. Those are all within this deer and Fox deal. So maybe a couple years from now they have to make a choice. But for now, they’ve got all these guys like you said, and we’ll see if they can fit together. What they do have is speed, athleticism, like they are not missing any of that with these guards. No, definitely not an issue. And to your point, I I’m I’m fascinated like like even in the worst case scenario, is this is this and maybe maybe this is the question that San Antonio ultimately asked themselves, like is this Fox contract going to be a negative value? And for me, like there would have to be some kind of traumatic injury there when you consider like I mean there despite the point guard depth in the NBA, like there are still teams that would love to have De’Aran Fox like like if the Washington Wizards in a couple years are are suddenly getting competitive and just don’t have a point guard like they might be on the market for Fox and they’re saying, “Hey, we’ll we’ll give you like equal money and we’ll throw you some wings and we’ll throw you a couple second round picks.” Like to me like like the question these teams always ask is like could we get off this if we need to? And I lean towards yes. We also don’t know the structure of the contract. Like given San Antonio’s cap room, it might be descending and and like with the cap escalating, it it might look a lot better the version of his contract like three four years in than it does in the first two seasons. So I think we still need to know that information. But I I would guess part of the premise for San Antonio is they think like barring the absolute worst case scenario, they feel like they can get off this like and not have it be a deal where like, oh, we have to attach a first round pick or multiple first round picks to move on from Dear Fox in a world where Castle and Harper and Wemby are already like a little sooner than they think. That’s true. That’s true. They they probably could still get off of it. I just have a lot of questions about it. I have a lot of questions about them as a duo. Fox and Webby, like you said, they played five games together. They went two and three. Wins against Atlanta and Washington. Lost against Charlotte, Orlando, Boston. I don’t really I don’t know how much you can even take away from that except for here are some actions they can look good in together. This is what Fox looks like with some space. And I think that that proved to be good. The thing though that I think Fox can help with and maybe one of the reasons why they had to do a deal like this when on the court last year plus 2.8 net rating in about 3,000 possessions, which is not great, but definitely you’re outscoring the other team. WBY off the court last year and without Fox on the court either minus 7.7 huge swing like a massive a massive swing there nine point swing in the net rating department when he sits and I think when Fox is on the court then when sits I think is where they’re going to find some some value there. They needed somebody else to soak up some minutes and to lead this team when he’s off. And that’s something I think he’s going to bring to this team next year and make them and one of the reasons why I’m high on this team being a playoff team. Yeah, they were dramatically better with with Chris Paul on the floor. And obviously Fox is not even even like the table setter that a 40-year-old Chris Paul is, but like he’s a talented playmaker. Like 90th% in assist rate, I think 62nd percentile um in assists to usage ratio like and and just his ability to turn the corner. Like I this is a slightly boomer take, but I I want to see Victor Webbyama around the rim a little bit more. Uh just 27% of his shots last season at the rim. was 12th percentile amongst centers. This guy, he’s listed at 7’4. It seems like he’s actually maybe 7’6, who’s might hit 77 by the next time we see him. He’s training with Monks all summer. We don’t know. Does that stretch you out? Does that make you shorter? I’m not sure, but I guess he shaved his head, so maybe a little shorter. Um, but like he needs to be at the rim and Fox’s ability to like turn the corner to bait a big to him like with that elite mid-range game that could generate some lobs for Victor Wemana, that could generate some switches for Victor Wemanyama to take advantage of. And like as much as like the three-point shooting is exciting, right? Like 36% from three, super high volume, like this guy should be unstoppable around the basket, even without putting on that muscle. And if Fox can like help him establish like more consistent time in in the most valuable real estate in the game, that could completely transform San Antonio in and of itself. It could. I’m interested to see what they look like. Uh I started to go through if they’re the best duo in the West. Mhm. Jokic Murray, Kawhi Harden, AD Kyrie, SJ, Jaylen, Luca, LeBron, Katie and Shangon, or maybe Ahmed Thompson kind of stood out and I don’t know, be interesting to see where they stack up next season. Go listen to Locked on Spurs for more on that. Coming up, it’s counted up where we count the most interesting fun things in the NBA, including Tyrese Hallebert making his heel turn even more and relishing in it against the Knicks. Talk about that in more. Locked in NBA game night continues. Today’s episode of Locked NBA Game Night is brought to you by Monarch Money. If you ever wish your managing your money felt easier, Monarch Money is here to help you. There’s all kinds of ways that Monarch can help you. They’ve got ways to track track your subscriptions, where you’re spending, and it puts all of your cards in one place. If you got all different credit cards because you’re trying to figure out all these different points, you got a you got a savings account, checking account, credit cards, all kinds of different things. You can connect all those things. You can also connect like 401k, your uh your, you know, savings accounts, you can connect your student loans, you can connect your mortgage, all kinds of different things you can connect on here. And then you can use it as a budgeting app. But it’s not just a budgeting app. It’s more than that. It’s a complete financial command center where you can track all your accounts, investments, and spending all in one place. So in addition to managing your money, you’re also building wealth with Monarch. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use the code lockdown NBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. That’s monarchmoney.com. Code lockdown NBA for half off your first year. Big chicken, baby. I I think a lot. I’m very smart. Take that for that. Count it up. Count it up. Count it up. Count it up. Count it up. It’s count it up. We’re counting the most interesting fun things in the NBA. Let’s start. Tyres Hallebertton. A post on Reddit was very funny to me because it said Tyres Hallebertton continues to live rentree in the heads of New Yorkers as he gets booed at Metife Stadium while being introduced by the PA announcer ahead of WWE SuperSlam event. My question for you, especially as the host of Locked on Knicks. Yeah. Who’s a bigger Knicks heel right now, Trey Young or Tyresese Hallebertton? Oh, that’s a good question. I I think it should be Tyrese Hallebertton, I think it is actually Trey Young because as much as Knicks fans uh claim rightfully that like Trey Young brings it up every time he’s in MSG, does some kind of like weird celebration every time he’s in MSG, you you still hear Knicks fans like outside of the Garden chanting uh F Trey Young like a after after playoff wins like the greatest in team history like over the Boston Celtics. So I think I think it is a mutual rent-free relationship. bit of something uh uh maybe maybe New Yorkers would love free rent. It’s not something we have a lot of over here. But uh Tyres Hallebertton uh he’s he’s he’s winding up the ranks. I mean the choke sign was was an all-time moment in MSG. One of the greatest playoff collapses we’ve ever seen. Like un I don’t want to say unlike Trey, but Trey was five years ago, which is a completely different Knicks team. Like Tyrese is like relevant recent like deserved real estate I’ve said that word a lot in this podcast. space in New York Knicks fans heads. Like he he I think unlike Trey Young has earned it. I think Trey maybe he’s a great team next year so maybe he’ll do it. Like I think he has to like he has to renegotiate the lease, you know? He hasn’t paid in a while. He’s not in a cost control. He’s not he’s not in a rent control. No, he’s he’s going he’s going to he’s going to rent court. Yeah, he’s going there. Yeah, Hallebertton was the most recent one, too. So, I think that that holds up. There’s some recency bias there for sure. But I think they’re both embracing it, which I think is uh you know, we joke about things being a recession indicator, like a team hiring Mike Brown as their head coach, like bringing him back. Um, this is also like is this an indicator that the Knicks are back fully, that they have these heels, these guys that like embrace this idea of being uh a villain for the New York Knicks? I think so. I I do think uh Knicks fans would argue that that they’ve been hated like the whole time that they were terrible and irrationally punished at times, but I think the fact that like to your point like this is like a story when Tyrese’s Hallebertton does it. Like I don’t really know like if he was talking about the Charlotte Hornets, I I don’t think that’s on ESPN in any form or fashion. So it’s partially market but partially the fact that uh I think in FanDuel odds the Knicks were were second well behind the Oklahoma City Thunder for title favorites. They’re really relevant at this point, partially because Tyres Hallebert and Jason Tatum are injured, but they’re super relevant and they’re in a they’re in a good spot. The Knicks are back and it’s fun when the Knicks are back for the NBA. Another Reddit post suggested that NBA conference realignment should be north south instead of east west. I don’t know if you saw this this diagram. It put all the teams like above this certain line like a uh it’s it’s not the Mason Dixon line. There’s a there’s a line and it puts like Denver, Cleveland, Minnesota, the Knicks, the Warriors, the Pistons, the Celtics all in the same all in the same conference. It did put the uh Pacers and Wizards in the South, which I find interesting. Pacers a little bit high there, but to even it out, it’s like all the teams south of this line. My question is for you. Do you feel better or worse about your team’s chances in a North South conference? Uh, I I have not gone over this in depth enough to give you a wellthoughtout answer. So, I can only say worse because I mean, what what is better than living in the Eastern Conference right now? Celtics. Ah, over. Sorry. Too many injuries. Had to trade away everyone. At least for next year. Indiana Pacers uh lost Miles Turner inexplicably. No. Tyres Hallebert next year. Eh, they’re done. Uh, the Cavs really good. Haven’t done anything in the playoffs. The Milwaukee Bucks. I don’t really see them as a threat. Orlando, Detroit should be really good. Still very young. Haven’t totally proven anything. Similar with the Atlanta Hawks. Like like there is just like it is it is a like probably like one I thought 10 years ago was the apex of this, but we’re we’re looking at like one of the weaker Eastern Conferences. I don’t even want to say that because there are like a lot of competent franchises and there are a lot of intriguing teams, but in terms of top end talent, like this is just one of the weaker Eastern Conferences in recent memory. maybe short of like those LeBron years where the Cavs could just kind of moonwalk into the finals season after season while the West is just like I’ll let you speak on this is just incredibly loaded. So, uh until until further research, I I am not going away from this current system. If I am an Eastern Conference, the Mavs would all of a sudden bring in Charlotte, Indiana, the uh the Wizards, the M the Miami Heat, the Atlanta Hawks into their conference, but they still have the Thunder, the Rockets, both the LA teams, the Spurs, the Grizzlies are still in there. I don’t know if it made me feel made me feel better, but I did find it funny. There are obvious reasons to not go north south though in in the NBA if we we want to talk about them. The Minnesota Timberwolves have been to the West Finals in each of the last two years. They had only made it out of the first round one time in their previous 35 seasons before that. When do we start talking about Anthony Edwards as the best Timberwolf of all time? Oh, uh, he has to like if you want that done in the next two years, I I think would almost take winning a title. like Kevin Garnett just bled for that franchise in a way. You you don’t really see modern superstars bleed like like most would have left. They didn’t really do many favors in terms of the talent they surrounded him with. Like it was Stefon Marberry, he bailed and then it was a long it was until 2004 until they really put a team around him. Anthony Edwards has been incredible. The success they’ve had has been incredible. But like I don’t think you can underestimate like the job Tim Connelly has done and the infrastructure they’ve built where they are like 10 deep every year and they like guy after guy like like Nas Reed uh Jade McDaniels like they they keep nailing draft picks they keep nailing transactions like Rudy Gobear who everyone myself included ripped them for like he’s he’s been fantastic like he’s been a staple he’s taken them up a level. Julius Randall like had the best postseason run by far of his career. So I think Anthony Edwards has just had substantially more help. Would I say at the end of his career he’s going to be there? I I think so. But I think that’s also partially because he he’s just in an infinitely better situation than Garnett was ever in. For sure. I just think it’s fascinating that Garnett and all all the great things that he did and how many he won an MVP there, which is is massive. He had uh I think eight times he made all NBA in his 14 years with with the Timberwolves. But Anthony Edwards has already led them to more playoff success than Garnett did his entire 14 years there. Like double the amount of playoff success. It’s just it’s wild to me when I looked at those numbers. I I agree with you. We’re not close to that conversation that that Anthony Edwards is better, but he already has more playoff success, which is just like an insane thing to me to think about. I think he might be the franchise leader in threes made already, which is he’s 23 years old, which is insane, but he probably did it in a season and a half. Probably did it already. Absolutely wild. Go listen on Timberwolves. Ben Beacon doing great stuff there all the time. The NBA Europe seems to be gaining some traction. We had the post of LeBron James with Jokic’s agent and Rich Paul and or Maverick Carter and doing all kinds of stuff over there. My question for you, you have any interest in NBA Europe as a league? Would you like adopt a team? Would you be interested in following any kind of NBA Europe action? I think I could talk myself into it, especially if they somehow made the season run um not whatever the opposite of concurrent is to the to the NBA season. Um opposite. I don’t know. Yeah, there we go. Um neither of us were great at math apparently, but um uh if it was during the summer, I can always get into hoops. Like we we were talking about covering I know um some some Euro Cup games on on this podcast eventually. Um I can always get into more professional hoops. It was the same time as the NBA season. I think I feel slightly overwhelmed during the NBA season just being like, you know, I haven’t really watched the Hornets this year. You should probably sit down and watch a Hornets game. Um but you have it in the summer. I’d get into it. It’ll be interesting. I’m curious to see how they align it, what they decide to do with it, how does it work with Euro League or against Euro League? Like, does it try and compete against that, too? It’s a It’s a wild concept, but I found it I found it interesting. I don’t think I I think I would follow it. I think I would try to because there’d be probably a bunch of college people, bunch of college guys that we would know that would go over there and try it or some former NBA players that just can’t make it in the league but ends up going over there. It’ll be interesting, but I’ll we’ll see what they do with it. Go check out Locked on Knicks, Locked on Mavs. Make your second listen today. Locked on NBA Daily. Matt Hayes and Doug doing great stuff there all the time on this feed wherever you’re listening watching this guys. Thanks so much for listening to locked on NBA game night.

NBA free agency, De’Aaron Fox’s signs a max extension with the Spurs, and the potential impact on Victor Wembanyama, Dylan Harper, and Stephon Castle’s future.

Nick Angstadt @LockedOnMavericks and Gavin Schall @LockedOnKnicks discuss De’Aaron Fox’s four-year, $229 million maximum extension with the San Antonio Spurs. They analyze whether Fox is worth the max contract, his fit alongside Victor Wembanyama, and his ranking among NBA guards. The hosts explore the Spurs’ roster construction, potential lineup combinations, and the long-term implications of the deal. They also touch on Fox’s shooting percentages, his impact on Wembanyama’s development, and how the extension affects the Spurs’ future flexibility. The conversation highlights the challenges and opportunities presented by this significant investment in Fox as the Spurs build around their young core.

0:00 Is De’Aaron Fox worth the max contract?
10:26 Analyzing Fox’s ranking among NBA guards
15:21 Fox’s fit with young Spurs core
21:12 Tyrese Haliburton: New Knicks villain?

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