The second in charge of the 100 million yuan! Will there be any conflicts between the Spurs?

The Spurs reached a contract renewal of 229 million with Fox during the offseason. Judging from the amount, this is definitely a contract renewal operation worthy of being a hot search on the headlines. But considering the current era when stars dominate, this contract renewal is nothing.

And in today's era, it is rare for Fox to be a star player at its peak. From this perspective, it is naturally no surprise that he signed such a huge contract with the Spurs. The contract will be able to lock him into 2030, when Fox is 32 years old and his total career salary will also accumulate to $416 million.

Judging from this amount, Fox's cumulative amount at its peak has exceeded the total amount of Chris Paul's entire career. Especially considering that Fox has only made it to the All-Star Game once in his career and has not led the team to the second round of the playoffs, judging from such a record and experience, Fox should not be worth such an amount at all.

But fortunately, now is a golden age where you can make a lot of money with ease.

For Fox's renewal contract, we can understand it from three perspectives:

First of all, is this a premium contract?

Judging from the amount alone, there is a high probability that there will be a premium. But the Spurs' situation is special. They have enough room to bear a slightly higher contract, and it is completely reasonable for them to pay such a contract to leave Fox.

Although many fans belittle Fox, if you look at the back line where talents overflow in the league, I personally think that there may not be more than six people who can completely suppress Fox.

Alexander who just won the championship, the Lakers' new storefront Doncic, Stephen Curry at the end, New York's new leader Brunson, and Halliburton who just led the Pacers back to the highlights. Perhaps Harden can be included on this list, but at the age of 35, facing the 27-year-old Fox, if Harden can completely suppress Fox, this is also a topic worth discussing.

Just considering that Harden performed rejuvenatingly in the Clippers last season and was selected into the All-Squad, we can temporarily put him before Fox, but including the elderly Harden, there are only six people.

And in the future rankings, there may be Trae Young, Morant, Garland, and even Maxi. Among the candidates in the second tier, there may be questions, but no matter how they are ranked in the end, at least they are players at the maximum salary level.

Morant and Garland must be selected into the best team to get the highest amount of the contract, Maxi is a rookie who extends the contract, Trae Young, Garland and Morant are also qualified to renew the contract, and their negotiations are likely to start higher than Fox's specifications. All of these amounts are calculated based on the percentage of salary space when signing. If the team's salary cap does not increase as expected, then the actual amount of Fox may be a little lower.

However, these are details and do not need to be fully referenced. Overall, these defenders have basically the same strength and the players' salaries are not much different. The only difference is that Fox's contract is only four years, and his annual salary is much higher than the previous ones. He will also expire at the critical point of the Spurs' timeline of establishing the team, and this is the second problem.

How will this contract of Fox affect the Spurs' future salary structure?

As mentioned at the beginning, Fox does have the value of star resources, but his contract is expensive enough, which is an indisputable fact. But for the Spurs, Fox is an affordable option. The Spurs' salary structure is quite simple. If it is a team that already has a maximum salary contract, plus Fox's second maximum salary, it will undoubtedly be difficult for a team that has Vinban Yama, but fortunately, the Spurs are not.

The only Spurs' annual salary exceeds 19 million is Devin Vassel. Even if the renewal of Wenbanyama's contract in the 2027-28 season takes effect, the Spurs can still avoid the punishment of luxury tax; so that the Spurs will have a two-year buffer time until the third maximum salary contract that may appear in the future. The key thing is that in the past two years, it is a special time when the Spurs plan to transform from a lottery zone to a playoff team.

This is particularly important from a long-term perspective. This is a good opportunity for newcomers such as Vinban Yama, Castle and this year's second-tier show Dylan Harper to experience high-level events early in their careers. If the Spurs can keep this group of people together, and when Harper's rookie renewal begins, Fox will enter the last year of the contract. By then, the Spurs are likely to be able to compete for the championship like the Thunder, just like the Thunder.

The last question, will the Spurs trade Fox in the future?

Infer from a rational perspective, the possibility of trading is not ruled out. But it should not happen in the near future. Even if it happens eventually, it will happen before Fox's contract expires. When the Spurs determine to hand over the team to the young trio of Vinbanyama, Castle and Harper, they will exchange it for some future value from Fox.

Of course, it is not ruled out that such things will happen at an earlier point in time.

However, this still depends on several factors. The key lies in Castle's growth rate. Looking back, Harper may be the final decisive factor. If everything goes according to the expected route, Harper will be the Spurs' long-term point guard answer. And if Harper can show the value of a successor back line in advance, the Spurs will likely push Fox's trade during the contract.

However, the premise is that some team is willing to take over the huge contract.

This is another key issue. Combined with the above mentioned, even if the Fox contract is slightly premium, it is still reasonable under the Spurs' salary structure system. However, for other teams, for a star guard in a non-core position, this is an astronomical figure. While occupying most of the team's salary, the future transactions are also quite difficult. Even just trying to complete salary matching is a big problem.

However, even if Fox can play a four-year contract, under the worst case scenario, the Spurs can avoid luxury taxes before 2029.

But by 2028, at least one of Fox, Castle, and even Harper might be traded. Which one the Spurs will choose as the long-term partner of Wenban Yama at that time is another issue worth discussing in the future.