2026-27 projection
| GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | 3PM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | 30.0 | .480 | .780 | 1.8 | 19.5 | 3.9 | 6.4 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 2.4 |
- Role: starting point guard; 30-minute share in the San Antonio Spurs 240-minute model.
- 9-cat: 45-75.
- Points: top 40-60, with more safety than his category line because efficiency is usually muted.
- Dynasty: 45-80; Hashtag's expert list is No. 50 and the July crowd market is No. 75.
Role and value
Fox averaged 18.6 points, 6.2 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 31.0 minutes across 72 games in 2025-26, shooting 48.6% from the field. Those are the right baselines: the fall from his Sacramento-level usage was real, not merely a slow integration sample. ESPN stats, accessed 2026-07-18
He remains the nominal starter, but Stephon Castle led San Antonio at 7.4 assists per game and Dylan Harper earned a larger postseason role. Fox's ceiling therefore comes from efficiency, steals and transition scoring rather than a return to 24-26 points. A trade would materially reset the projection; absent one, 30 minutes is the disciplined base case.
Ceiling, floor and risk
- Ceiling: 21/4/7 with 1.5 steals and top-40 value if he controls closing possessions.
- Floor: 28 minutes, 17 points and fewer than six assists if Harper becomes the preferred closer.
- Category fit: helpful FG% for a point guard and useful steals; middling FT% on nontrivial volume limits roto upside.
- Health: the leading risk on this file, not a footnote. Fox suffered a right high ankle sprain in Game 4 of the second round against Minnesota when Ayo Dosunmu landed on the ankle, played through it in Games 5 and 6, missed the first two Western Conference Finals games, and reaggravated it in Game 3 on a Lu Dort loose-ball dive. San Antonio attributes his Finals collapse to it: 18.8 points on 46.2% over his first 11 playoff games, then 12.0 on 35.3% after the injury, and 12.8 in the Finals. Across the full run that is 15.6 points on 41.4% in 21 playoff games against 18.6 on 48.6% in the regular season. The 70-game, 30-minute projection above assumes the ankle is sound by camp; if it is not, both the games and the efficiency are exposed. NBA, 2026-05-19 · ESPN, 2026-05-20 · Hoops Rumors, 2026-07
Correction 2026-07-18: this file previously described the injury as right-ankle soreness confined to two Western Conference Finals games and called it "a draft-season check, not an active absence." That understated it. The correct diagnosis is a right high ankle sprain sustained in the second round, and the team's own account has it degrading his production through the Finals. Health risk on the projection is weighted up and the ankle is now the primary draft question on this player. Hoops Rumors, 2026-07
Hashtag's current dynasty page calls the buy-low window open, which is reasonable only if the acquisition price reflects this reduced role. Hashtag dynasty, accessed 2026-07-18
Career record
Pre-NBA: One season at Kentucky (2016-17, SEC): 36 games, 16.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists on .479 FG, .246 3P, .736 FT. SEC All-Freshman team and SEC Tournament MVP; scored 39 against UCLA in the Sweet 16, then an NCAA Tournament record for a freshman. Left after one year. Draft: 2017, round 1, pick 5, Sacramento Kings — no draft-night trade. Traded to San Antonio at the February 2025 deadline; signed a reported four-year, $229M extension with the Spurs.
| Season | Age | Team | GP | MPG | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PM | FG% | FT% | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-18 | 20 | SAC | 73 | 27.8 | 11.6 | 2.8 | 4.4 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.6 | .412 | .723 | 2.4 |
| 2018-19 | 21 | SAC | 81 | 31.4 | 17.3 | 3.8 | 7.3 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 1.1 | .458 | .727 | 2.8 |
| 2019-20 | 22 | SAC | 51 | 32.0 | 21.1 | 3.8 | 6.8 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 1.1 | .480 | .705 | 3.1 |
| 2020-21 | 23 | SAC | 58 | 35.1 | 25.2 | 3.5 | 7.2 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 1.8 | .477 | .719 | 3.0 |
| 2021-22 | 24 | SAC | 59 | 35.3 | 23.2 | 3.9 | 5.6 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 1.3 | .473 | .750 | 2.8 |
| 2022-23 | 25 | SAC | 73 | 33.4 | 25.0 | 4.2 | 6.1 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 1.6 | .512 | .780 | 2.5 |
| 2023-24 | 26 | SAC | 74 | 35.9 | 26.6 | 4.6 | 5.6 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 2.9 | .465 | .738 | 2.6 |
| 2024-25 | 27 | SAC/SAS | 62 | 36.1 | 23.5 | 4.8 | 6.3 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 1.9 | .463 | .827 | 2.8 |
| 2025-26 | 28 | SAS | 72 | 31.0 | 18.6 | 3.8 | 6.2 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 1.8 | .486 | .760 | 2.3 |
| Career | 603 | 33.0 | 21.1 | 3.9 | 6.1 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 1.6 | .472 | .747 | 2.7 |
The 2024-25 row is a two-team season: 45 games in Sacramento at 37.0 MPG (25.0 / 5.0 / 6.1, .469 FG, .829 FT, 2.0 3PM) and 17 games in San Antonio after the deadline at 34.0 MPG (19.7 / 4.3 / 6.8, .446 FG, .819 FT, 1.5 3PM). The combined row above is ESPN's published two-team total, not a hand-computed blend; the scoring drop is entirely the post-trade half.
Fantasy history: 2023-24 was his best category season and the first time he finished inside the top 20 in 8-cat, driven by a career-high 2.0 steals and 2.9 threes on top of 26.6 points. His 2020-21 through 2022-23 stretch was consistently early-to-mid-round on the strength of scoring plus a strong FG% for a lead guard. I could not find a citable season-end 9-cat rank for 2024-25 or 2025-26, so I will not put a number on those — the 2025-26 raw line (18.6 / 3.8 / 6.2 / 1.2 / 0.3, .486 / .760, 1.8 threes, 2.3 turnovers in 31 minutes) is a mid-round shape rather than an early-round one. Points leagues have always rated him higher than categories, because his value concentrates in points and assists and he has never provided blocks or elite percentages.
Durability: GP by season — 73, 81, 51, 58, 59, 73, 74, 62, 72. Career average of about 67 in nine seasons, with four seasons under 63. The 2019-20 (51) and 2020-21 (58) seasons came in shortened 72-game schedules, so those are less alarming than they look; 2021-22 (59 of 82) is the genuinely poor one. 2024-25 ended early: he tore the extensor tendon in his left pinkie during Kings training camp, played through it all year, and finally had surgery in March 2025, missing the last 18 games. 2025-26: missed the first seven games with a hamstring strain suffered while working out in Las Vegas during July 2025 Summer League, debuting 2025-11-08 against New Orleans, then played 72 of the remaining 75. In the 2026 playoffs he sprained the right ankle high in Game 4 of the second round against Minnesota, played the rest of that series, sat the first two Western Conference Finals games against Oklahoma City, returned for Game 3 and reaggravated it in that game. He was available for the Finals but visibly diminished.
Trajectory: Fox's arc peaked in a three-year window from 2020-21 to 2023-24, cresting at 26.6 points and 2.0 steals in 2023-24 as the sole engine of a Kings offense built around him. Everything since has been a downshift, and 2025-26 shows it is not purely a minutes story: per-36 he scored roughly 21.6 in 2025-26 against roughly 26.7 in 2023-24, and his steal rate fell from 2.0 per game in 35.9 minutes to 1.2 in 31.0. That is a real efficiency-for-volume trade — his .486 FG in 2025-26 was the second-best mark of his career, but he got there by taking fewer hard shots inside a Wembanyama-anchored offense where Stephon Castle led the team in assists. He turns 29 in December 2026, which is exactly where speed-first guards start losing the first step that produced his rim pressure and his steals. The history therefore argues against betting on a bounce-back: the 2025-26 line is the new baseline, and the realistic 2026-27 variance is a couple of minutes and a trade, not a return to 24-plus points.
Career sources: ESPN career stats · Wikipedia — De'Aaron Fox · NBA.com — Fox to have season-ending pinkie surgery · Yahoo Sports — Fox to miss start of 2025-26 with hamstring injury · NBA.com — Fox signs four-year extension with Spurs · NBA.com player page
Open questions
- Does Fox close alongside both Castle and Harper, or lose late-game minutes to a bigger shooting wing?
- Did the ankle fully normalize over the offseason?