De'Aaron Fox was finally eligible for a four-year extension worth $229 million yesterday, but the Spurs haven't announced an agreement yet. Usually, you want to get a player like Fox locked up as soon as the opportunity arises, so it begs the question: what gives? Swipa is on the record stating his desire to remain in San Antonio, and an anonymous executive with the team expressed something similar.
The Lakers wasted no time extending Luka Doncic as soon as they had a chance two days ago. That announcement came in the morning, as they weren't going to waste any time playing around with Doncic's future. Getting deals done quickly shows the player that you want them there for the long haul. When you have to think about it for too long, you build doubt in the player's mind.
The Spurs could be having second doubts about a max contract
Yesterday, NBA Insider Marc Stein revealed that executives around the league aren't convinced that the Spurs will give D. Fox a max deal. That seems to be the case because otherwise, there wouldn't be much to talk about. You would just sign the man to the biggest money offer available and keep it moving.
However, if the two sides aren't aligning on the framework, further negotiations will be necessary, and that opens the door to frustration from either side. There's no doubt that nobody, including the front office, thought that they'd land the number two overall pick. Being gifted the right to draft Dylan Harper was an opportunity that they couldn't pass up.
I've been of the mindset that Fox, Harper, and Stephon Castle can work together, but that doesn't mean that the Spurs agree enough to hand out that deal. Remember, they only got Swipa because he demanded out of Sacramento and listed San Antonio as his preferred destination. The Silver and Black didn't go out of their way to go after him, and they didn't give up much to get him.
Would Fox be willing to accept a three-year deal for $150 million or a four-year/$200 million extension with a team option in the final year? Something like that could be the preferred route for San Antonio, but if the player feels like agreeing to that deal would undervalue him, it could be a problem.
Again, if it were as easy as giving him a max deal, it would likely already have been done. There is clearly something else to talk about, and until he's inked the new deal, it's something to keep our eyes on. Fox has already demanded to be traded once. If he feels like the rug has been pulled out from under his feet, would you really be surprised if he did it again? Because you shouldn't be.