From his career averages and season-by-season numbers to the trade that landed him in San Antonio, his record-breaking contract, and the NBA Finals performance that has everyone talking โ this guide covers it all clearly and completely.
De’Aaron Fox (nicknamed “Swipa”) is a 28-year-old point guard for the San Antonio Spurs. Born in New Orleans and raised in Katy, Texas, he was drafted fifth overall by the Sacramento Kings in 2017 out of Kentucky. Fox spent seven-plus seasons rebuilding Sacramento’s franchise before demanding a trade to San Antonio in February 2025. He is widely regarded as one of the fastest players in the NBA โ his speed off the dribble is genuinely rare โ and he led the entire league in steals during the 2023-24 season. His two All-Star selections came in 2023 and 2026. Now locked in with the Spurs through 2030 alongside Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, and rookie Dylan Harper, Fox is at the center of one of the more compelling and complicated roster situations in basketball.
Fox has averaged at least 15 points per game in every season since his third year in the league. His best scoring seasons came with Sacramento; his numbers shifted after arriving in San Antonio, where Victor Wembanyama is the primary offensive option. All stats below are regular-season per-game averages.
| Season | Team | PTS | AST | REB | STL | FG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-18 | Sacramento | 11.6Rookie season | 4.4 | 2.8 | 1.0 | 43.4% |
| 2018-19 | Sacramento | 17.3Breakthrough year | 7.3 | 3.8 | 1.7 | 46.5% |
| 2019-20 | Sacramento | 21.1 | 6.8 | 3.9 | 1.5 | 47.2% |
| 2020-21 | Sacramento | 25.2 | 7.2 | 3.5 | 1.7 | 47.9% |
| 2021-22 | Sacramento | 24.5 | 5.5 | 4.2 | 1.4 | 49.9% |
| 2022-23 | Sacramento | 25.21st All-Star ยท Clutch Player of Year | 6.1 | 3.8 | 1.6 | 50.0% |
| 2023-24 | Sacramento | 26.6Career high ยท Led league in steals League Leader | 5.8 | 4.3 | 2.0 | 48.1% |
| 2024-25 | SAC / SA | 23.545 games SAC ยท 17 games SA | 6.3 | 4.8 | 1.6 | 47.3% |
| 2025-26 | San Antonio | 18.62nd All-Star ยท NBA Finals | 6.2 | 3.8 | 1.4 | 46.1% |
Across 9 seasons and 603 regular-season games, Fox has averaged 21.1 points, 6.1 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game. His career-high single game was 42 points, 12 assists, and 5 steals against Sacramento on February 24, 2023.
A lot of questions about Fox come down to the same few things: how good is he really, what does the contract mean, why did he leave Sacramento, and what happened in the Finals? Here are the honest, direct answers without the fluff.
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What are De’Aaron Fox’s stats this season? 18.6 PPG ยท 6.2 APG ยท 3.8 RPG ยท 1.4 SPG ยท 46.1% FG โ Regular season 2025-26Fox put together a strong regular season for San Antonio, helping the Spurs win 62 games and earn the second seed in the Western Conference โ their best record in over a decade. His scoring dipped compared to his Sacramento days, largely because Wembanyama handles a larger share of the offensive load. Still, his 18.6 points and 6.2 assists per game were top-tier production for a second option, and he earned his second career All-Star selection as a reserve for the Western Conference. The postseason told a different story. Fox suffered a high-ankle sprain in the Western Conference Finals against Oklahoma City, and he was visibly limited upon returning for the NBA Finals against New York โ averaging just 10.5 points per game in his last six appearances before the season ended.
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What happened to De’Aaron Fox in the NBA Finals? Spurs lost 4-1 to Knicks ยท Fox averaged 12.8 PPG on 34.4% shooting ยท Ankle injury was a major factor ยท Game 4 blunder cost San Antonio a 1-point lead with seconds leftThe 2026 NBA Finals were supposed to be a coming-out party for the young Spurs. Instead, Fox โ playing through a lingering high-ankle sprain โ had one of the worst championship series by a star guard in recent memory. He shot under 37.5% from the field in three of the five games and went 1-of-8 from three-point range in the deciding Game 5. The moment that has replayed on every highlight show: in Game 4, Fox held the ball inbounds with the Spurs leading 106-105 and seconds left โ and rather than dribbling out the clock, he drove for a layup that OG Anunoby swatted away. The Knicks ultimately won the game in overtime. Fox hit a clutch jumper in Game 3 to keep San Antonio alive, but that moment ended up being a footnote. Criticism has been harsh, with some analysts calling for the Spurs to explore trading Fox this offseason โ a complicated proposition given his massive extension.
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Has De’Aaron Fox ever been an All-Star? Yes โ twice ยท 2023 (Sacramento) and 2026 (San Antonio) ยท Also won NBA Clutch Player of the Year in 2023 and led the league in steals in 2024Fox earned his first All-Star nod in 2023 as part of Sacramento’s breakthrough season โ their first playoff appearance since 2006. That year he was also named the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year, an award for players who perform best in close-game situations in the final five minutes. The following season (2023-24) he averaged a career-high 26.6 points and led the entire NBA in steals with 2.0 per game โ one of the more underrated individual statistical achievements in recent years. His second All-Star selection came in February 2026 when he was named as a replacement for the injured Giannis Antetokounmpo. The narrative around him has always been that his all-around defensive impact โ particularly his lateral quickness and deflections โ gets undervalued in conversations that focus only on scoring numbers.
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What did the Spurs give up to get De’Aaron Fox? Three-team trade in February 2025 ยท Spurs sent Zach Collins, Tre Jones, and three first-round draft picks to Sacramento (via Chicago) ยท One of the steeper prices paid at a trade deadline in yearsThe Fox trade was a three-team deal involving San Antonio, Sacramento, and Chicago. The Spurs sent Zach Collins, Tre Jones, a 2025 first-round pick, a 2027 first-round pick, and a 2031 first-round pick to Sacramento โ along with Sidy Cissoko. Chicago sent Zach LaVine to Sacramento as part of the deal. In total, San Antonio parted with three future first-round selections, which is a substantial price for any team to pay. At the time, the rationale was clear: the Spurs had Wembanyama locked up and needed a proven co-star to accelerate their contention window. Fox averaged 19.7 points and 6.8 assists in his 17 games with San Antonio before a finger injury ended his first partial season. He then signed a four-year, roughly $229 million extension that summer โ making him one of the highest-paid guards in league history โ before his strong full season and ultimately disappointing Finals run.
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How fast is De’Aaron Fox? Widely considered among the 2-3 fastest players in the NBA ยท Clocked above 19 mph in transition during player tracking data ยท His speed off the dribble creates separation that most defenders simply cannot matchSpeed is genuinely Fox’s most distinctive physical trait, and it is not overstated. NBA Second Spectrum player tracking data has clocked him at top speeds exceeding 19 mph during fastbreaks โ which is legitimately elite even among NBA athletes. What separates Fox from other fast players is how he uses it: his first step out of a standstill is what causes the most problems for defenders, not just his straightaway speed. He consistently ranks among the league leaders in drives per game and points in the paint, because his acceleration at the point of attack creates angles that closeouts rarely stop. His career-best steals season (2024) was driven by that same speed โ his ability to time and recover laterally on deflections is nearly unique in the league.
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Why did De’Aaron Fox leave the Sacramento Kings? Fox requested a trade in early 2025 ยท He wanted to compete for a championship ยท Sacramento was rebuilding around younger players ยท His agent Rich Paul helped negotiate the Spurs as the destinationFox spent his entire pre-Spurs career in Sacramento โ seven-plus seasons โ and became the face of a franchise revival that took the Kings to the playoffs for the first time since 2006. But by 2024-25, Sacramento was clearly in transition mode rather than contention mode, and Fox was entering the final year of his contract. His camp, led by agent Rich Paul, communicated that Fox wanted out. The Spurs were identified as the preferred destination, largely because Wembanyama represented a legitimate co-star โ the kind of player Fox had never had in Sacramento. Fox himself said after signing his extension that being part of the Spurs’ championship tradition meant something to him, and that the organization’s culture and direction were clear. The irony is that the Spurs arrived at the NBA Finals in his first full season there โ only to fall short in a way that has reopened questions about whether the partnership works at its highest level.
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How much money does De’Aaron Fox make? $229 million over 4 years starting 2026-27 ยท Average annual value of roughly $55 million ยท Fully guaranteed ยท No player or team option โ both sides are locked inFox is set to earn approximately $49.5 million in 2026-27, rising to roughly $63 million by 2029-30, with an average annual value near $55.4 million. The extension was signed in August 2025 and kicks in this coming season. The deal has no opt-outs on either side โ the Spurs cannot cut him and Fox cannot leave early. This structure is at the center of the current offseason debate. San Antonio also needs to eventually extend Wembanyama, then Castle, then Harper โ all of whom are on rookie-scale deals โ and Fox’s contract will consume a significant portion of the cap through the decade. Whether the Spurs can build a sustainable championship team around all of these players simultaneously is now the central basketball question in San Antonio.
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What is De’Aaron Fox’s injury history? 2024-25: Season-ending finger (extensor tendon, left pinkie) in March 2025 ยท 2025-26 playoffs: High-ankle sprain in Western Conference Finals ยท Both injuries affected his availability and performance at key momentsInjuries have been a recurring story for Fox at the worst times. In his partial first season with San Antonio, a torn extensor tendon in his left pinkie forced season-ending surgery in March 2025 โ cutting short what had been an impressive debut. He acknowledged before the 2025-26 season that fans would finally see him “play with 10 fingers.” The ankle sprain in the WCF against Oklahoma City was the more damaging injury in terms of impact on a team’s season: Fox played through it in the Finals rather than sitting out, but he clearly was not the same player. According to ESPN’s reporting, he was never able to recapture his pre-injury form after returning, and the decision to play him rather than rest him for a potential Game 6 or 7 is one the Spurs coaching staff will likely revisit.
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- The ankle injury context matters. Fox’s poor Finals numbers came after a high-ankle sprain in the Western Conference Finals. A fully healthy Fox in 2026-27 is a different player than what the Knicks saw in June.
- His contract starts this coming season. The 4-year, $229 million extension kicks off with roughly $49.5 million in 2026-27 โ one of the highest PG salaries in the league.
- The Spurs still made the NBA Finals. For all the criticism, San Antonio finished second in the West and reached the championship round in Fox’s first full season there. That context should not be buried under the Finals result.
- Trade rumors are real but complicated. Fox’s fully guaranteed max contract with no opt-outs makes any trade difficult. Teams would need to take on that salary willingly, and the Spurs would need a compelling return to justify moving him.
- Three-point shooting is the most exploitable gap. Until Fox can consistently shoot above 33-34% from three, opposing defenses have a blueprint to stop him in half-court settings โ a fact that becomes amplified in playoff basketball.
Stats and information in this guide reflect publicly available regular-season and playoff data through the 2025-26 NBA season. Career statistics, salary figures, and trade details are sourced from official NBA records and publicly reported information. Always verify current stats at nba.com or basketball-reference.com. This page has no affiliation with the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs, or De’Aaron Fox.