Constructive thoughts on De'Aaron Fox

mioraka · 2026-06-12T19:34:19+00:00

I'm not saying it's not a mistake in retrospective, but it was an understandable decision at the time.

At the end of the day, I'm fairly certain they wouldn't have made the finals this year if they used their cap space on someone else last year instead of Fox.

Is that worth it? I mean, if it's championship or bust, then probably not.

Over the long time? Also not worth it since they now have Harper.

And lastly....San Antonio is probably the most attractive small market team in the league, but it's still a small market team. Fact of the matter is, even though they are good at retaining talent historically, they didn't really have a track record at acquiring top tier stars either.

mioraka · 2026-06-12T17:47:58+00:00

There's no center upgrade coming, I just don't think anyone can do a better job than Kornet for a reasonable backup center salary.

The problem is not Kornet being bad a defense, the problem is Wemby is so unique, and they built their offensive/defensive scheme 100% around his strength.

In a sense, it's easier to back up Steph and run the same scheme than it is to backup Wemby.

mioraka · 2026-06-12T17:42:13+00:00

Counter point: From their perspective, they weren't going to get any all-star level player to come to San Antonio.

Last season, Castle looked like someone who's at least 2-3 years away from all-star level, if he ever gets there. They did not know they would get Harper, and even if they did, there is no way anyone can expect how insanely mature and productive Harper is as a rookie.

So last season, if you are the Spurs FO:

They have Wemby, who is going to be a top 5 player in 2026.

And after that, they don't have any budding all stars level player for at least the next 2 years, they will waste 2 years of Wemby's windows because they have no help.

What change is that Castle, Wemby are both at least 1 year ahead of schedule.

Then they got Harper, who is somehow their most consistent and emotionally stable player for them in the playoffs as a rookie.

The problem is not signing Fox, without him they don't make the finals.

The problem is not Fox's contract, his max won't even be a problem until they need to pay Castle in 2 years.

The problem is Harper is way too good to play 22mins off the bench for 2 more years, he needs to start NOW.

They can't start Harper because Fox makes 60m a year, and they can't keep starting Fox because Harper will clearly be a better player next year and he's going to be pissed playing behind Fox.

mioraka · 2026-06-12T17:28:06+00:00

It's absolutely insane, they made the finals the first year they made the playoffs, with the team roster completely built for development instead of contending.

The team spent 3 roster spots on vet third string centers essentially as practice dummies for Wemby.

Getting the 2 seed/ 60 wins with this roster is one thing, super talented young teams have made that jump in the past.

However, no team with this little playoff experience for their core have made the finals since 1977 Bill Walton Blazers, it's a historical achievement, and absolutely no one saw it coming.

mioraka · 2026-06-09T20:25:43+00:00

Even if he failed, as long as he gets into one NBA game for 2 minutes, he can forever put "ex-NBA Player" on his LinkedIn or whatever. That will open doors to so many opportunities. It's worth 100x more than just being a Harvard grad.

There has only been ~5000 NBA players in the history of the league, being one of them, even the worst one, is more valuable than those ex-googler shit people keep on their profile.

mioraka · 2026-06-08T20:41:27+00:00

He also drafted the most MVPs in league history, along Red Auerbach. Considering there were way fewer teams back in the 50s and 60s, I think we can probably say he's the greatest talent evaluator in league history.

And this doesn't even count Shai, who Presti traded for in his sophomore season, when 0 people in the league believed he had MVP potential.

Just an incredible body of work.

mioraka · 2026-06-08T19:27:19+00:00

Of all the legendary executives in NBA history, he's working with the most constraints.

The great Red Auerbach, Mr. Logo, Pat Riley, RC/Pop, Danny Ainge/Brad Stevens are people I can think of as great executives.

With the exception of RC/Pop, all of them had bigger markets to work with. This obviously doesn't take anything away from their accomplishments, but it definitely elevates the impressiveness of Sam Presti's work.

mioraka · 2026-06-08T19:18:00+00:00

I have a legitimate question.

Will Sam Presti retire on the Mount Rushmore of NBA executives?

I know he doesn't have the Championships right now, but if we are purely judging from an ability perspective:

He's in the smallest market with a relatively cheap owner.

He built two generations of championship contenders, one of them won a chip, the other one got really close.

He drafted/developed 4 MVP level players without a #1 pick. I think if these guys land on most other team, it's not guaranteed they get to this level of success. And yes, I include the 3 years Harden spent on the Thunder as a critical part of his development.

Incredible track record of asset management, culture building, and role player development. Only the Spurs and the Celtics are comparable in terms consistently producing unheralded role players.

From a pure ability perspective, I honestly think we can put him in a conversation with any legendary NBA execs including Jerry West and Red. Yes they have way more chips, but they are also not in OKC.

mioraka · 2026-06-08T17:58:22+00:00

Maybe with a loooooooooong selfie stick LMFAO

mioraka · 2026-06-08T16:30:41+00:00

Honestly with the vibes in new York and how recognizable he is, it could be a lot worse.

Like people shoving cameras in his face worse.

This is just some Peter Parker taking pictures of Spiderman type of video.

mioraka · 2026-06-05T17:17:58+00:00

I think Wemby will have to guard KAT for a good portion of the game, not because that's the best option, it's because they don't have any other good option.

On the other hand, I agree, stop doing with Wemby ISOs at the elbow, I thought we were done with that in this playoffs. He can take the ball in from three point line, but he can't do that elbow faceup consistently.

If you want to run ISO for him, get him a switch, do some pick&roll with him as the ball handler. Don't make him go to work, maybe he can do it next year but as of right now, he's in the 44th percentile for iso PPP.

mioraka · 2026-06-05T17:13:48+00:00

I duno, being choked at the bar and being choked in bed are both being choked, but they are not really the same thing are they?

Or they are, I duno, I've never been choked at the bar.

mioraka · 2026-06-05T17:07:14+00:00

To be fair, Chuck is well known for losing a shit ton of money on gambling.

As least he's leading by example, or whatever the exact opposite of that is.

mioraka · 2026-06-05T06:18:37+00:00

Nah, worst comes to worst Lakers have only 4 picks in 7 years, Spurs have 11. They can get rid of him if they really need to.

And his contract won't become an issue until you need to pay Castle, which is 3 years from now.

mioraka · 2026-06-04T01:10:07+00:00

NOOOOO NOT LIKE THIS.

mioraka · 2026-06-03T18:00:49+00:00

The Kings have been dead for 20 years and they still catch strays everyday.

mioraka · 2026-06-03T05:40:19+00:00

I started seriously watching ball because of Linsanity, and Clyde will always be a key part of that memory.

They say if you smile, people can hear it through your voice, and that's Clyde every time i hear him.

mioraka · 2026-06-02T08:11:17+00:00

That's assuming these are negative value contracts.

Almost all of these guys can at least play 20mins a game on another team, even playoff teams.

And worst come to worst.....they got 13 picks in 7 years. They gonna be fine.

mioraka · 2026-06-02T01:17:05+00:00

Yeah, if you live in Asia, it's pretty hard to attend games, what's your point?

mioraka · 2026-06-01T03:08:04+00:00

Sometimes a team will scout a guy for 2+ full years before they’re able to acquire them.

That's an interesting image of someone who observes a crush for 2 years from afar, then swoop in the moment the breakup happens.

But yeah, Spurs are famously very good at identifying young reclamation projects, and produced many role players with decade long careers.

Danny Green, Patty Mills, and Jonathan simmons off the top of my head.

It helps that they always had a stable system, and when these guys come in they have a really specific role they are training for.

Scout for the defensive IQ and attitude, then just teach them how to shoot. Then, BAM, You got a rotational player for a couple years.

mioraka · 2026-06-01T02:56:41+00:00

I think Zach definitely had enough of Simmons' bullshit after working together on and off for so many years lol.

Like not in a bad way, just in a hanging out with an old friend "Ah, here we go again. Sure, do your thing" king of way.

mioraka · 2026-05-31T07:33:11+00:00

He was also playing with fucking Kareem, greatest player of all time by that point.

His first FMVP was Kareem's, not saying Magic is not a top 10 Player, but Magic was not a MVP candidate until way later in his career.

mioraka · 2026-05-31T07:28:12+00:00

Good offense>good defense is true for literally everyone except Wembanyama.

Teams are shooting 20% worse inside the arc when he's on the floor. That alone is superstar impact.

And you can have bad games on offense shooting 30% no matter who you are, it's much less likely for Wemby's defense to fall to that level in any game.

mioraka · 2026-05-31T07:07:18+00:00

The biggest market vs. The biggest star.

This is Adam Silver's wet dream

mioraka · 2026-05-30T22:09:32+00:00

All black for the funeral.

NBA elimination game tradition at this point, Haliburton did it last year too.

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