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Jun 10, 2026; New York, New York, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard De'aaron Fox (4) controls the ball against the New York Knicks during the fourth quarter of game four of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden. © Brad Penner-Imagn Images
De’Aaron Fox had a rough NBA Finals, but the San Antonio Spurs front office came out publicly in his corner after the draft.
Not everyone is buying the loyalty angle, though.
NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor weighed in on the Fox situation this week, and his take runs counter to the idea that Fox is a clear-cut franchise piece going forward.
Kevin O’Connor Questions De’Aaron Fox’s All-Star Upside
On Draft Live, O’Connor was asked flat-out: Fox or Ja Morant as your starting point guard? He went with Morant without much hesitation.
He’d rather have a $197,230,450 star whose future in Memphis is highly uncertain.
The reasoning centers on one thing: the ceiling.
“Ja Morant has a chance to be an All-Star when he gets back on the floor and he’s back healthy. There’s no All-Star upside with De’Aaron Fox,” O’Connor said, adding that he views Fox as past his peak and sees a real chance Morant returns to All-Star level with a new team.
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It’s a debatable position, and the numbers on Morant’s side don’t help O’Connor’s case much. In 20 games during the 2025-26 season, he averaged 19.5 points, 8.1 assists, and 3.3 rebounds but shot a career-low 41.0% from the field and just 23.5% from 3-point range.
He’s played only 79 of a possible 246 regular-season games over three years.
Fox, at 28, averaged 18.6 points during the regular season and was the steadying force on a Spurs team that won the Western Conference.
The Finals were bad, 12.8 points per game, but he was also playing through an ankle injury that, per head coach Mitch Johnson, would have kept most players out entirely.
Spurs general manager Brian Wright addressed Fox’s future directly after the draft.
“Obviously, the injury is a real thing, but we have the ultimate faith in De’Aaron and who he is as a player, what he’s been for us and what he means to this team,” Wright said.
“And there’s no wavering in that at all.”
Whether that reflects the team’s actual plans or just good front-office posture with other teams watching, only Wright knows.
Fox’s four-year, $229 million extension kicks in for 2026-27, and Dylan Harper is coming off a strong playoff run, needing more minutes. That math gets complicated fast.
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Morant’s situation in Memphis is a different story. NBA insider Brian Windhorst reported the Grizzlies are actively looking to move him as part of a full rebuild, one that already cleared out Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr., and added Cameron Boozer at No. 3.
“It’s not really a question for the Grizzlies; they going to really try to trade him,” Windhorst said.
The problem is the market.
Kendrick Perkins said teams asked Memphis to attach picks just to take Morant on. His five-year, $197,230,450 extension runs through 2027-28, and with no no-trade clause, he has no say in where he lands.
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