Spurs star point guard De’Aaron Fox is undergoing season-ending surgery on Tuesday for his pinkie finger, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). The decision had been expected, as we relayed earlier in the month.
Fox is dealing with tendon damage in the finger. As Charania clarifies in a follow-up tweet, the injury occurred during training camp, but the veteran guard had played through the injury to this point.
The decision to have the surgery now was made to speed up the healing process, per Charania, and to get the injured Spurs stars on a similar recovery timeline to establish better chemistry in the offseason. Superstar center Victor Wembanyama is out for the season due to deep vein thrombosis.
The Spurs, at 27-37, are 4.5 games out of the play-in picture. Not having Fox and Wembanyama obviously reduces their chances of making the postseason. However, they just beat the 10th-place Mavericks and have multiple games against projected lottery teams in the coming weeks, so the door isn’t entirely closed yet.
With Fox on the shelf, point guard Chris Paul is likely to receive an uptick in minutes. The Spurs may also opt to spread Fox’s minutes across younger players on the roster, with Stephon Castle potentially having a shot at a starting role. Former first-round picks Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley could get minutes after being out of the rotation, or the Spurs might opt to play veteran point guard Jordan McLaughlin more.
The Spurs acquired Fox at the trade deadline after the Kings decided to make him available. He averaged 19.7 points and 6.8 assists per game in 17 appearances (all starts) with the team. His 19.7 PPG scoring average would have been his lowest since his 2018/19 season, but it’s important to note that he was still rounding into form and only briefly overlapped with Wembanyama. In his most recent outing against Dallas, Fox recorded 32 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists.
Spurs should tank and shouldn’t even get fined for it with Fox and Wemby done for the season.
They’ve been tanking for almost a decade and nobody seems to mind
Almost a decade? Didn’t they win it all in the 2013-14 season, and then put up 55 wins in 14-15 (a decade ago)?
It’s been five years now, and the plan wasn’t to tank this year until Wemby, and now Fox were shut down for the season. 3-5 years for a proper tank in the NBA is pretty reasonable.
Should tank? What do you think these “injuries” to wemby and fox are?
It seems like a “statement” by the team. Spurs want to push a certain narrative. There are some people who might be really unhappy if the truth comes out…
:-|
Pinky finger…. this must be Silvers way he wants you to tank. Fake injury I bet but Utah how dare you
The tank began with Wemby and Fox had been playing through that…
Next season is far more important…
What’s in the Texas water ?????
Pops get well ……. miss you
Tanking. Just say it. No other reason to do it now.
I recon spurs get the #3 pick…