Suddenly injured! How much should Fox renewal be appropriate?

One news from the Spurs: Spurs reporter Dusty Garza reported that multiple sources indicate that Fox suffered an injury.

Due to the impact of injury, Fox canceled its original Asian tour. The team is currently evaluating Fox's injury and whether it will affect the game in the new season.

Fox then posted a video on his personal social media, saying that he could not participate in next month's Asian tour. He originally planned to follow Curry to Tokyo, Hong Kong, Xi'an and Chongqing.

It should be noted that there is currently no exact source of information to reveal whether Fox has suffered a new injury or an old injury. Previously, Fox was reimbursed for a seasonal remediation surgery for the pinky finger of his left hand.

This is undoubtedly bad news for the Spurs.

Fox's peak was two years ago, when he not only was the All-Star and All-Squad three-team for the first time in his career, but also successfully led the Kings to the playoffs after 17 years and was elected as the Key Player of the Year (first).

In the following season, that is, the 23-24 season, although the Kings did not make the playoffs again, Fox's performance was at least qualified:

averaged 26.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.9 three-pointers, shooting percentage of 46.5%, three-point shooting percentage of 36.9%, and the highest score in his career.

However, last season, Fox's performance was a bit disappointing.

Before being traded first, Fox played 45 games for the Kings, averaging 25.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game.

The data differed significantly, but the shooting percentage was 46.9%, the three-point shooting percentage was 32.2%, the real shooting percentage was only 56.7%, and the turnovers increased to 3.0.

Next comes the 17 games after being traded for the Spurs. Fox's performance dropped sharply, averaging 19.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game, shooting percentage of 44.6%, three-point shooting percentage of 27.4%, and real shooting percentage of 53.7%.

Finger injuries are considered an important reason for Fox's decline, but it should be noted that Fox's finger injuries occurred during training camp last October, which means that he was already playing with injuries while he was in the Kings, and he played with injuries. The gap between the front and the back is so big that it is somewhat unreasonable.

followed by running-in, there is nothing to say about this. It is indeed a new environment. Moreover, the Spurs already had Castle and Paul in the backcourt last year, so Fox will definitely not be able to play freely.

However, there are two points to pay attention to in this regard.

First, after Wenban Yama was reimbursed for thrombosis, Fox, as the team's first theoretical ability, did not perform enough convincingly. On the contrary, when he was on the court, the Spurs lost 7.3 points in a 100-game game.

Second, Fox and Vinban Yama briefly collaborated for five games, but the results were not good. The two were there at the same time. Not only did the Spurs not win points, they also lost 2.4 points in a net loss to their opponents in 100 rounds.

Of course, whether it is 5 or 17 games, the samples are a little small, and it cannot fully reflect the value of Fox. It is just that there are real questions about his future with the Spurs. There are three main ones:

1. What level of player is Fox? As of now, he has only been to the All-Star once in 2023, so will he only have a brief breakout in 2023? Take the real hit rate alone, except for 2023, Fox has not exceeded 57% in a year.

2. The Spurs have too many people in the backcourt. Paul is not here next season, but the Spurs chose Harper with the second pick this summer. Like Castle, the latter is definitely the Spurs' key training target. If Harper plays an unexpected performance, then Fox's position will be embarrassing.

3. How many contract renewal should be given? Fox must be capable, but how much is his contract renewal amount? The maximum renewal amount that the Spurs can give him is 229 million in four years. Rumor has it that he and the King collapsed because there was no contract renewal and the King was not agreed. At that time, the King was only willing to renew his contract for 165 million in three years.

How to renew the contract with Fox, this is also a problem that the Spurs management needs to solve as soon as possible. You should know that before the deadline of last season, the Spurs paid four first-round picks to receive Fox to the Spurs (2025 Hornets' top 14 protection, 2025 Bulls' top 10 protection, 2027 Spurs' no protection, and 2031 Timberwolves' no protection). You can't let Fox go as a free agent next year, right?

Pure personal point of view, players of the level of Fox are the most difficult to renew. It is not worth the maximum salary, and they are afraid that he will leave if they give less. The Spurs did not renew his contract this summer, because Fox performed too poorly in the second half of last season.

As for Fox's absence from the Asian tour, it is likely that he has taken into account the factors of next year's contract year to minimize the possibility of further injury. I hope the little Fox can prove himself next year, and next season will be very critical to him.