After just 17 games, De’Aaron Fox’s season as a Spur is over. The star point guard will be out for the rest of the year as he recovers from surgery to fix a lingering injury on his finger that has been bothering him since training camp with the Kings last October.
It makes sense for Fox to not wait until the offseason to go under the knife, as the play-in looks unlikely for the Spurs. He Still got to meet his teammates, wear Silver and Black for a few games, and show the home fans how dominant he can be with a 32-point near triple-double before being shut down.
While it’s a good thing Fox is prioritizing being healthy to start next season, his absence will have an impact on this year’s team. So let’s take a look at what being without Fox the rest of the way means for the Spurs.
### Stephon Castle’s Rookie of the Year chances improve drastically
The Spurs could go a lot of different ways in how they fill the starting spot left vacant but Castle and Jeremy Sochan seem like the best bets. Between the two, Castle is more likely to get the nod, as Sochan doesn’t fit seamlessly next to Bismack Biyombo and has been the team’s backup center with Charles Bassey out. In all likelihood, Castle will start, which should help him get Rookie of the Year.
Now, Castle has had slightly better numbers per 100 possessions coming off the bench, so the switch could at a glance hurt his case for RoY. But two other factors need to be considered. First, Castle has played a lot more minutes when he has started, and minutes is what he needs to get his counting stats up more than anything. He’s not particularly efficient, but he is productive. Second, Castle will likely still get to lead units. With Fox gone and with the rookie likely moving into the starting spot, the second unit will have no ball handlers. Blake Wesley will likely get some playing time and maybe Malaki Branham will be let out of the doghouse, but the responsibility to score and create will be on Castle if he shares the floor with them.
Beyond getting the numbers for Rookie of the Year, spending as much time as possible with veterans and Vassell should have other benefits. Castle could still win the award coming off the bench, but the experience he’d get by facing the opponent’s best players on a nightly basis should speed up his development, which should be one of the main priorities going forward.
### Better lottery odds could make up for the lost opportunity to build chemistry and continuity
The truth is the Spurs’ season was over when Wembanyama was sidelined. The play-in became an unlikely goal. The commitment to starting and giving Chris Paul heavy minutes and the decision to play Sochan out of position meant forfeiting the chance to build the type of continuity that would have been fantastic to have for next season. Even then, there was still the opportunity to get Fox, the newcomer, to develop some chemistry with the other important players on the roster. That opportunity is now unfortunately gone.
The upside is the Spurs will likely be worse in the short term and could realistically move up a couple of spots in terms of lottery odds, assuming they can out-tank the Bulls and Trail Blazers. This draft class is projected to be very good at the top, so having a better chance to land a top-three pick is not the worst consolation prize for a season that was derailed by health issues. With the Hawks's pick increasingly looking like it will land in the teens, getting San Antonio’s first-rounder in the top seven would be hugely beneficial. Even if there are no prospects at the range that the front office thinks could fit the core, which seems unlikely, they can still move the pick for a veteran or trade for a future first, as they did with the eighth overall selection in the past draft. Tanking was supposed to be a thing of the past, but circumstances change and teams adjust.
There are still reasons to watch the remaining games. As mentioned, Stephon Castle’s development could be accelerated by the unfortunate situation the franchise finds itself in. Others who had seen their role shrink or who have been buried on the bench could have new opportunities. Injuries have made it impossible to build on this season as a team, but there’s still a lot of individual growth that can happen and will be fun to track.