Will San Antonio extend De’Aaron Fox’s contract? | Spurs Insider

From a highly secure network of top secret locations across South Texas, this is the Spurs Insider Dog Days of Summer edition. I’m your host, Mike Finger, joined as always by Express News Spurs beat Riders Tom Osborne and Jeff McDonald. Jason, the roster is pretty much in place. The local cagers have done pretty much what they expected to do this off seasonason. We’re going to look at the roster that Brian Wright has assembled over the next 30 minutes or so. We’re going to talk about all kinds of midsummer topics, whatever those topics might be. I’m sure the listeners are riveted, but I’m going to start with Jeff McDonald. Looking back, I think there there is one there’s possibly one uh open roster spot left, maybe a couple of two ways, but the bulk of what the Spurs plan to do has been done. Did they do it the right way? How would you kind of evaluate the roster that the uh the Spurs have assembled this off season, Jeff? I think as we’ve talked about before, like they’ve they’ve uh improved in in at least improved uh vastly at least one of the areas that they went into the uh offseason uh you know needing to improve and that’s with you know the big man depth, the front court depth um you know guys taller than 68 to play with and behind Victor and in Luke Cornett and Kelly Olen. Um the Spurs did um address that need and I think as we’ve done on previous podcastes podcasts we can quibble with whether they’ve done enough to address the uh perimeter shooting need. Um they did kind of um you know make some moves around the margins that might help a little bit with the uh David Jones Garcia 2-way and the Lindy Waters III contract. Um but yeah, they didn’t they didn’t go out and and sign um you know, Steve Kerr or anybody like that. So, we can quibble with that. But overall, I think they’ve made strides in filling holes and and um being an even more competitive team next season than they are um than they were last season, which was a pretty good improvement over the season before that. And of course, all this hinges on the health of a couple of uh very important players, but other than other than that, you know, I think they’ve moved moved the needle a little bit. Tom Horses, after a week in Vegas with the summer league team and a welldeserved respit in Southern California away from the Spurs land, uh do you have anything to add to what Jeff mentioned in terms of the Spurs off season? Yeah, I mean I I said it I think the last time we met that um you know it’s going to be fun to see what Mitch Johnson does with these rotations with the pieces that that have been assembled and uh you know everyone is focusing on the guards but the big man you know that’s interesting too uh what what he’s going to do with um Cornet and Olanick you know how much he plays them with uh one of them with Wimby, you know, what what he does uh with maybe a big Oklahoma City type lineup. Um and yeah, as far as you know, the recent signings, Waters, um they you know, a staffer told me in Vegas that they they want to assemble a team that has a veteranladen bottom of the bench, you know, something they haven’t had in a while. So, you know, they’ve they’ve kind of fulfilled that goal. So, yeah, I think it’s uh, as I said before, I think it’s been a very good off season for them. That’s a that’s an interesting goal and it makes a lot of sense and I think it fits the history of when the Spurs were good. Uh, you get some kind Look, you’re not going to play 15 guys in a night. You can you can sign 15 players to full contracts. You can sign three guys to two ways. You’re not going to play all those guys. you’re generally not going to play more than 10. And even when you account for injuries and and guys getting more playing time, guys getting less playing time, you’re not going to play more than 12 um over the course of a of a random few weeks or the over the course of a random month. So, what are you going to get out of those guys who aren’t playing? Are those guys there? One train of thought is those are the really young guys who aren’t ready yet, who you are developing, who you are sending up and down from the G-League team. Um, who are hopefully making progress in the shootound five on five games that Jeff and Tom and I like to watch in in visiting arenas where the guys who never play each other and staffers and ball boys? um or are those are are you getting veteran knowhow from those type of guys? And I think that’s uh when when you’re making the step that the Spurs hope to make this year, you hope to get some kind of um again veteran knowhow, some some experience, some leadership from those spots. And that’s another way to use those spots. And I think when you consider that like Jordan Mclofflin’s probably not going to play a whole lot, Lindy Lindy Waters maybe play may maybe could play some but is not going to be plugged into the rotation on night one. Um, if if those type of guys can give you a little bit of just veteranness as opposed to who are the alternatives, Malachi Brham and Blake Wesley who have been around but were were not young anymore and were not guys who you thought are going to be part of the thing in the future. Um, it makes a whole lot more sense to fill out that part of the bench with Jordan Mclofflin and Lindy Waters and even like Kelly Olen who might not play every night. I think he’s going to play a lot, but those type of guys as opposed to those tweener types in in Blake West, Malachi Brandon, the development the development era is over, you know, where they they have those guys at the end of the bench that they’re trying to develop and uh, you know, uh, build up. Uh, that that era is kind of over for now. If if you want a veteran laden bottom of the bench, I got a hot take for everybody for that last uh that last 15th roster spot. Let’s bring back Patty Mills. You man, he he’s in Hawaii. Why the heck would he come back here? That’s probably the that’s probably the issue to be honest. Yeah, that’s that’s the type of guy I do think just um roster constructionwise and if you if you lay out like a a three tier depth chart, I think that last spot probably should go to a bigish type person. I think they might need one more power forward type as opposed to another. They’re they’re covered in the in the little guy department. bring back the uh the breakout star of Happy Gilmore 2, Boon Maranovich. Um, sure. Uh, who would be per and and I hate to harp on just negative stuff and heartbreaking stuff, but the perfect guy for that last spot would be Sandro. Uh, who’s who found a better in Toronto, but that’s exactly the type of person they need for that 15th. Why’ you got to bring us Go ahead. Why’ you got to bring us down that way? I’m sorry. It’s a wet blanket. I’m sorry. Um, there’s a couple of two-way spots available. I I was looking at this and this is not going to uh win us the podcast award of the year. Whatever the podcast Emmys are, which I know we were in contention for it’s not it’s the potties. I think they call the potties. It’s not going to make us go viral uh when you’re talking about two-way contracts. But I had mentioned on a previous podcast about how it had been a while since the Spurs had hit two-way pay dirt and I went down a two-way contract wormhole as it as it were. And uh did you you fellas are on top of it. You cover the league. You cover the team year round. You’re probably aware that the the idea of a two-way contract, the first two-way contracts were signed in the summer of 2017. It’s been eight years in the two-way contract era. At first, there weren’t three available. Now that now there are three for every team to sign. Um, some of the greatest two-way contract players the leagues league has ever produced include the likes of Austin Reeves of Duncan Robinson, Nas Reed, Lou Dort, um, Alex Caruso was on a two-way contract at one point, uh, Derek Jones on Max Strus. Um, there’s been some guys who have who have become productive NBA players on two-way contracts. Do you know the first two-way contract that the Spurs ever signed? There’s no way you know this. Uh, so I’m not even going to ask you, but that that person’s name is Matt Castello. Do you fellows remember Matt Castello? Um, I remember Abbott. Yeah, Lou’s Lou’s greatgrandson. But do you do you can you even you both were covering the team at the time? We all were covering the team in 20. I remember the name. Yes. But you don’t remember much about his his style of play or anything like that? If he showed up at my front door right now to, you know, change my locks, I wouldn’t recognize him. No. This was a long way of getting to the second two-way contract that the Spurs ever signed, which was also in 2017. And this person, you probably do remember. And you Jeff for a brief moment thought that he might have seen this person in a restaurant in Los Angeles several years later at at during a Super Bowl. Jeff, do you know who I’m talk talking to? Are you talking Are you talking about uh the great Darren Hillyard? Darren Hillyard who we did not see. Should we just tell that story? Well, we need to have the great Bill Shoning on the uh on the podcast itself. We will. Well, now that now that we beat around the bush, we might as well tell it. Everyone’s going to be confused. Super Bowl. Uh, what year? Several years ago. Several years ago, the Spurs were playing. You can look it up. The Spurs were playing in in the the city of Angels. The night a night after the Super Bowl and maybe the night before the Super Bowl. So, we had a night off and the Spurs contingent decided to watch the the big game at a at a local eery. It was it was the Yard House. It was the Yard House. We We didn’t pick it right. It was just right across the street from the hotel. Former longtime legendary voice of the Spurs, Bill Shoning, sitting next to me and he looked across the way and he said, “That guy over there in that booth right across from us. That is that is Darren Hillyard.” And uh I said, “You know, that does kind of look like Darren Hillyard.” And Bill got up and walked over and he he he shook them the the guy’s hand, sat down next to him, sat and talked to him for 15, 20 minutes. They were long lost friends. The group of us looked and said, “I must be Darren Hillyard. Bill’s talking to Darren Hillyard.” Bill came back after 15 minutes said, “Nope, that wasn’t him.” And the kicker of the story is when the uh artist who was not known as Darren Hillyard got up to leave, he was like 510. Yeah. five. Yeah, he was not anything close to Darren Hillyard, but Bill could talk to anybody and uh Bill Bill regailed him with stories about the Spurs. Anyway, uh this was a long way of getting to the fact that the Spurs have had a few guys on two-way contracts who have become uh productive NBA players. You had the great KBD Kada Bates Top was a was a uh two-way player for a while. Drew Eubanks, two-way player for a couple years. Um, Dom Barlo, trying to make his way in Philly now. Don Barlo. Yeah. The one the one that I’d forgotten who is I think the Spurs best two-way player and the one that’s still around. That That’s the big giveaway here. He’s still around. I was going to wonder if you’re going to get to him because I I had a I had a listener reach out to me and tell us we were idiots for forgetting this guy. Yeah. And that person is Julian Champeni. Julian Champeni started on a two-way. It wasn’t for a Here’s the thing. It wasn’t for a full year. He was signed as a two-way at the end of of a season and then immediately It wasn’t even that. This is why we forgot him. The Spurs didn’t technically sign him to his two way deal. The 76ers did and waved them and the Spurs just picked him up off waiverss, which means they assumed his two-way contract. There you So, the press delete release that went out didn’t say Spurs signed Julian Champion to a two-way contract, even though that’s sort of what happened. Uh, and that’s why we that’s why it fell through the cracks for me is I thought of him as a guy the Spurs claimed off waiverss, but I didn’t I didn’t do the extra step in my head going, “Yes, they claimed him on a two-way contract.” So, that was the end of that was towards the end of a season. I believe it was the end of the 22 23 season. And then that summer of 23, he was signed to a full deal. And uh has that that’s worked out pretty well. And so we weren’t trying to this is a long roundabout way of uh of atoning for our Julian Champeni mission. Um but we have the utmost respect for Julian Champeni, who I think is going to be an important part of the Spurs roster this season. Um, you know, he I think uh in in in one sense he’s holding down a spot that they might hope that uh young Carter Bryant assumes uh eventually eventually. Um but in in the meantime, he’s a he’s a like for $3 million, he’s a really good guy to have on your bench and uh you know 3 and D type of guy who Spurs might resign in the future. Like that’s that’s a that’s a true two-way success story for the Spurs. So, they have had some guys uh break out from there. Now, looking forward at what they have this year, they did sign a summer sensation, David Jones, one of those two-way spots. And uh I think that’s a good spot for him. He was not, as we said on the last podcast, I didn’t think he was a guy who was beating down the door to get one of the 15 full contracts, but to keep that guy around on a two-way, I think that’s exactly how you use your two-ways. I’m glad you brought up David Jones Garcia. U I’ll ask this question even though I know the answer. You guys don’t happen to read the like comments under our our podcast that people leave. Absolutely. Do we even have those? Oh, there’s plenty. I I I read them because I just feel like if people take the time uh you know on what uh on what form what on all of them, but usually YouTube would be the most uh most uh commented. Um is that right? But any anyway uh people hated our David Jane Jones Garcia take last time. I’m sure they did. Like hated it. Like hated it. Where we said that they should sign that he’d be fine for a two-way but not for a full and he they ended up signing him to a 2-way. Some people I mean some people were nice about love the pod guys but don’t understand your DJ G-Shade. Um other people though like there was one fellow that thinks we’re protecting Spurs management because they don’t want a guy from the Mexico City G-League team to come in and upstage all the other summer league guys. And uh that’s why they wouldn’t sign him to a full deal, you know. But um I think we proved ourselves right on that, you know, like what we said, sign him to a 2-way if if you can get him for that. I wouldn’t go much more than that. That’s what they got him for. So that was that was great. It did have Seems pretty That seems pretty non-controversial. Yeah. Well, they hated our thought. If he was worthy of a full contract, some any 30 teams could have signed him to a full contract. They they thought we were uh crapping all over him, you know, just just just discounting his entire uh summer summer shine. By the way, summer league is fake. Summer league’s fake. Everybody, we’re talking. But my favorite comment on this thread was the guy says um uh the guy who uses the word cagers must have been around when basketball was invented. Yeah, that’s true. That’s true. You’re making a You’re making an impression out there in uh in in podcast land. Maybe it’ll get maybe he’ll win you a potty. I think that’s all I AI, isn’t it? No. Allan Iverson is the one that’s talking about practice. Oh, okay. Okay. Well, I mean I was not I I am sort of shocked that anyone thought we were bashing David Jones Garcia, who I think uh earned a two-way contract and got a two-way contract. That’s exactly how two-way contract should be used. There are some people that say things like, “Good take, way to be rational,” but I’m not going to read those. Those aren’t funny. Anyway, um yeah, good for David Jones Garcia. Perfect perfect spot for him. We’ll see like the chances of him becoming a regular member of an NBA rotation. Probably not that high because there the just the history of two-way contracts, you don’t see a lot of those. the hit rate isn’t through the roof, but he has a chance. And uh he’s one of the best basketball players in the world when you think about true how many jobs there are in the NBA. And to get one of those three-way spots like or two the three two-way spots that each team has, one of the absolute best at what he does in in in the in the world. you know, the the the top 1% of the 1% of the 1% of the 1%. I done David Jones Garcia. I have not looked this stat up. I’m just going to assume it’s true, but I bet he uh led all players uh playing in Mexico and scoring last year. Yeah, that’s awesome. So, he’s definitely the best player in Mexico. Well, well, I don’t I don’t I don’t know about that. I don’t want to make any assumptions about Mexico. There’s there’s great players in Mexico. Edward, there’s a good there’s a good chance he was and now he has a chance to show his wares in the uh in the NBA due league and possibly in the NBA. He has he can play as many as what 50 games in the with big team. I don’t expect that to happen, but uh good for him. Yeah, he’s going to have to beat out a lot of guys that they that are, you know, need minutes before he can get his shot, you know. And I’m not sure it’s about beating out. It’s just like it’s going to take injuries cuz you’re not going to you’re not going to move him ahead of uh a lot of the guys who are ahead of him. That’s just the way it works. But he he can take advantage if he gets an opportunity. And uh you know, congrats. Do do not want to make it sound like we are uh down on David Jones Garcia. Of course not. Perfect two-way. Realistic perfect. The um the other contractual uh situation this summer involves possible extensions. Like the the roster is pretty much set, but there are extensions that the Spurs might be able to give out. And the most noteworthy of those is that of De’arren Fox, who I believe on August 3rd is eligible to sign a 4-year extension. He signed for one more year. He’s under contract for this season. They can add four years to that and pay him over $220 million and wrap him up through the 2031 season if they so choose to do so. And if Darren Fox chooses to sign that deal, I am of the thought process that maybe that is not as automatic as it might have been when the Spurs traded for Darren Fox 6 months ago. I still think it might happen, but uh I think we alluded to this on the on the last podcast. Things have changed since they made that deal. Um, I think in some ways the the Spurs landing the number two pick in the lottery and landing Dylan Harper has made people forget about what a big deal it was for them to get De’arren Fox. It has made people almost too down on De’Aran Fox. Um because when when you think about how we were talking about him um that first week after he was on the roster and he hits he hit the gamewinner against was it Charlotte Tom? Atlanta. Yeah. There were those two games Atlanta. He hit the game winner. You’re thinking this is just exactly how they drew it up. And you can imagine De’aran Fox and Victor Wimyama being pick and roll partners into the next decade. They got him for a steal. The Spurs gave up no player that was part of their future. None of their more attractive draft picks really got him for nothing. And you still look at it and the Spurs got a a really really good player for almost nothing. And uh the the difference is does he does does does he make sense long-term with Dylan Harper and with Stfan Castle and with you know on down the line Carter Bryant what have you or is this a situation Jeff where you think there might be a middle ground to be found where an extension is signed for less than four years in the max? I I can’t really tell you numbers or years, but I will be surprised if they don’t uh if Darren Fox and the Spurs do not agree on something. Yeah. I I I would be a fool’s Aaron for me to sit here and try to tell you numbers and uh uh you know, years and years and dollars. I’m not Bobby Marks, but um I would be sh like just I would be shocked if they don’t come to an agreement on something. And here’s here Tom is the the the argument for it. and the argument against just throwing him out with the bathwater because they got Dylan Harper. Again, he is a he is an asset. He is a guy who fits He’s a guy who they targeted not just six months ago, but the Spurs have had him in mind for a long time as somebody who fits their program. He he he wants to be here. And when you think about it, like the reason they got him for nothing is because De’aran Fox sort of forced that. Like he made it clear to Sacramento that he didn’t want to be anywhere else and that this is this was his preferred destination. And when a when a player like that, an all-star caliber player kind of puts himself out there and says, “I want to be in San Antonio and I want to be part of what you’re building.” and shows that kind of faith in an organization that has now won a lot in recent years. Like I think I don’t I’m not sure I want to use the phrase you owe him something, but maybe you do. Like like there’s you don’t just all put that person on the trademark because you get Dylan Harper. You don’t just flip him to another place where he doesn’t want to be. like you you sort of do owe him the uh the chance to be a part of this long term. And I think if the Spurs were this, there’s no way they’re going to do this cuz it’s not how they operate. But if they were to say, “Oh, we got Dylan Harper now and we’re going to dump you to Charlotte or Memphis or, you know, just name your team Toronto.” Like, what would that do for the Spurs dealing with players in the future with De’aran Fox’s agent, with whoever? like that’s just not a smart way to go about business. And so I I fully expect like Jeff said for a an extension to be reached. Maybe the full extension, but uh I mean worst case scenario if you do the the Max extension, you have a guy who I think is going to be u desirable by other teams for a good while. And if it doesn’t work out where you think that Dylan Harper and Dear Fox can coexist for four or five years into the future, there’s you’re going to have options. You’re going to have flexibility. And so I know I was going to get to Tom here eventually, but that’s that’s kind of my view of of that situation. Yeah, I agree. It would it would send a terrible message, you know, after after the desire that he’s shown to be here. And and it just makes no sense. You’ve got such a small sample size. Yeah. Of him. And it was a good sample size. You know, it just makes no sense to me uh to discard him. If anything, Dylan Harper’s the I mean, he’s the unknown quantity. We know what De’Aran Fox is. You know, it just uh it just doesn’t make sense. And Jeser, too. On top of all that, there’s all these like business reasons and uh you know, making people happy and oh, he’s also a good basketball player that’s going to help you win games. Like, I don’t He’s one of the best scoring guards on the planet. Is he an MVP candidate? Of course not. Is he an all-star candidate? Maybe. He’s been to the All-Star game before. You know, he’s he’s gotten you 23 points a game every, you know, the last five years in a row. Um like I and I just we just watched two teams in the finals that like you you bunch of ball handlers, bunch of creators, bunch of secondary like you can’t have too many of those guys. So when you have one that wants to play for you, one of the best in the world that wants to play for you and you have a chance to lock them up, I think you do it. Now, we you can like the genesis of this question is, you know, for what and how long and on those are all questions you can um you know, bat around, but at the end of the day, you you don’t just cast him aside because you drafted a rookie who’s going to be a great rookie. I think I have high I have high hopes for Dylan Harper as well down the line, but I I don’t see there’s any maybe I’m stupid, but I don’t see any reason all these guys can’t go coexist and win a ton of basketball games together. The hard part of podcasting in this era is it’s just uh you’re you’re having a take on one side or the other and there’s not room for like no one pays attention to the middle ground. But the to to devil’s advocate against what y’all are saying or not necessarily against but just to to temper what you guys are saying the the the argument that that Dearon Fox should not be someone that you wrap up for the max toward until 2031 is there’s going to come a point when this roster gets more and more expensive and maybe the most efficient use of all your financial resources isn’t to be paying a bunch of guards, uh, a bunch of point guard types in in Stfan Castle, Dearon Fox, and Dylan Harper all that money to play with Victor Webyama when you could use that money on something else. But I think that is a four or five years from now problem as opposed to a and you should always be planning for the future. Yes, there’s always some devil’s advocate to everything that we say here, but I think that’s what people see is down the line is the best way to build a championship team to have three guys who all have point guard qualities. The cool thing about it is all three of those guys have point guard qualities, but they’re they’re really different players. Um, Stefan Castle’s a guy who’s gonna guard the heck out of wing guys. Like, you have no issues imagining him guard guarding small forward types, shooting guard types. De’Aran Fox is more of the the quick playmaker type, the pick and roll type. Uh, Dylan Harper, you can imagine him playing between those two guys. The key is you want one of them to be able to to make three-pointers at a higher rate than they do now, which I think will be possible with both Dylan Harper and Stefan Castle. But you could see a scenario where all three of those guys coexist and and fit into a role and uh and really become an elite backcourt for the Spurs. And I think you have to give that a chance to to work itself out. And if for some reason in a couple years you realize you can move on like Dylan Harper’s become a clear all-star in the making, Stefan Castle has added a dimension to his game and you can you can play him on the wing and you can start to think, okay, maybe we we can move on from De’arren Fox. But for all the reasons we talked about here, I think that it makes a lot of sense to keep De’arren Fox happy and around. And I think he’s really important for what the Spurs hope to do in the next couple years in terms of making the playoffs. Like the the the Spur when the Spurs make the playoffs for the first time, they will have basically nobody who who has been there before. Um Harrison Barnes, who am I forgetting? Luke Cornett. Those are those are role player type guys. You want one of the guys with the ball in his hands to have a little experience. Indeed. Aaron Fox hasn’t played in a lot of playoffs, but he’s got a little more veteran savvy than some of those younger guys. And I think that will be a big help when the Spurs get into those series. Yeah. And then four years from now when you’re ready to compete, you resign Chris Paul at 44. See your to be your veteran point guard. Oh, we talked about he’s in he’s with the Clippers now. We brought that up. I think we all expected him to go there. I’m not sure when it became official, but like happy for him. He’ll he’ll fit in great. He’ll He gave the uh I saw he gave the Spurs some props in his uh his little uh welcome press conference there saying he probably wouldn’t be in the league if the Spurs hadn’t thrown him the lifeline last year. So good good for everybody. Spurs really enjoyed him. I think he really enjoyed the Spurs. That was cool that that uh that he I think it’s cool that that Victor Wimbeyama and Stefan like Stefan Castle is going to be a guy who appreciates and remembers Chris Paul for a long time. Those those were they were side by side in the locker room. Yeah. Uh Chris loves Stefan Castle. Stfan Castle loved Chris Paul. And even if Stfane Castle’s future in this league is not as a point guard, like he learned a lot of stuff from that guy and and got a lot of confidence and encouragement and uh and just a lot out of that relationship that I think will pay off for the Spurs for a long time. I realized there were fans out there, the listeners of the podcast that didn’t love the Chris Paul experience, like every minute of it and and and felt like he wasn’t going to be here forever, so what was the point? But I think when the Spurs win a playoff series down the line, there will there will be at least a piece of it that dates back that that that traces back to to stuff that they got from Chris and uh and just knowing what I’ve seen from him in the last year and talking to other guys about him, I don’t think the mentorship with these guys is over. Like I think Stef Stefan Castle, for better or worse, can expect tons of phone calls from Chris Paul. Yeah. this summer this year to come cuz Chris as we know watches everything every game and if he sees something that Steph needs to know he’ll have no problems calling him up texting him up and uh you know he what you said is correct like he he left a he left a um an imprint on this team that you’re you couldn’t get otherwise and it’s going to be an important uh small piece when these guys develop into what the Spurs ers hope that they will develop into. Be funny this year if Steph Castle is all over Dylan Harper and Carter Bryant about rookie chores. Where where’s my towel? Where’s my donuts? Now, I think that part of it that would be hilarious, but I think that part of it is just going to be it’s just going to fade away. Kids these days sound like the guy who was around when basketball was invented. That was in the pager days. Yeah. back in the ca like the the whole um and this might be for for good, but the whole hazing thing, the whole it’s not even hazing, it’s more just um the the idea that that rookies need to pay their dues. That whole mentality just doesn’t exist as much anymore. And I don’t think Stefan, it’s very funny that Tom brings that up, but I can’t imagine Stefan passing that down. He thought it was corny and out of date when he when he was expected to have towels and stuff, but it was kind of Sandro that was the ring leader of the payback there. That’s true. Not exactly an old man. There are old souls among the youngsters. Yeah. Dearan Fox is a big believer in that hierarchy. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe maybe that’ll that’ll continue to be passed down. But I just don’t I think that that eventually is going to go away. Um maybe I’ll be wrong. Probably. But uh times are changing. Times are changing for the better. Sometimes for the better. Sometimes. Yes. Yes. The newspaper you’ve been reading. All right. That that sigh that heavy sigh from Tom Wars means that we’re reaching our cue to go on the Spurs insider. We will meet again at some point in August. things are slowing down uh free agencywise, transaction-wise, uh just basketball-wise in August, but we will meet again to check in. Uh hope everybody has some fun summertimes out there. Uh enjoy, go touch grass, get away from the podcast world for a little bit, and uh we’ll be around to see you again in a few weeks. Until then, take care of each other and keep it real.

Columnist Mike Finger and beat writers Jeff McDonald and Tom Orsborn discuss the Spurs’ nearly-completed roster, how David Jones-Garcia fits into their history of two-way contracts, and why De’Aaron Fox remains an important part of the franchise’s future even with Dylan Harper in the fold.
 
*Suggested reading:*
De’Aaron Fox still important in Spurs’ plans: _https://www.expressnews.com/sports/spurs/article/deaaron-fox-max-contract-dylan-harper-flexibility-20786859.php_
Spurs to sign veteran 3-point specialist: _https://www.expressnews.com/sports/spurs/article/journeyman-sharpshooter-expected-help-spurs-20782339.php_
David Jones-Garcia lands two-way deal with Spurs: _https://www.expressnews.com/sports/spurs/article/david-jones-garcia-lands-two-way-deal-spurs-20781240.php_

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10 comments
  1. Fox wants to be here b/c of Wemby and family…of that I am certain.
    I'm predicting he either signs a "Jalen Brunson" type extension, or waits till next offseason to see how everything plays out this season.

  2. The Spurs needed a Mike Malone to reach their ceiling this season. With a rookie who proved IN SIX MONTHS he was in over his head, Fox may hesitate to want to be here for years. Sean Sweeney, PLEASE SAVE THE SPURS.

  3. Vassell and Keldon are taking up development minutes for Bryant-DJB-Minix-Waters. I say the Spurs keep the 15th roster spot open in case something comes up w/Vassell and Keldon. TIME IS $$ and Vassell needs to go NOW. His bloated extension is way out of proportion to his value as it was signed before Castle, then Fox, then Harper-Bryant entered the picture.

  4. I would definitely sign Fox to a max extension. Its not reasonable to expect Castle or Harper to excel in early clutch reps. I still remember TP being subbed out for Claxton in the playoffs.

    Let those guys mature, see how some of our pick swaps end up, and go from there

  5. Duh, of course you extend Fox. The question is for how long and for how much. 4-years and $220M seems a little too long and a little too much. 3-years and $150M fully guaranteed with a player option on the 3rd year seems like the sweet spot.

  6. I am sure they will give Fox the max extension. Most likely 4 years with a team option on the last year of the deal to give the Spurs more flexibility in case the point guard spot becomes redundant with Harper and Fox. The Spurs are know around the league to honor their promises. It is not the best run organization in the 4 major sports for nothing.

  7. Thanks for the shout out. I made the cagers comment on the last video.
    I agreed with your DJG take. TWD was about right.
    I hope Spurs negotiate a more team friendly Fox extension.
    I think Fox Castle Harper trio will work out just fine.

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