Spurs Weigh Bench Role for $49.5 Million Fox After 12.8-Point Finals Fade

Q: Have the Spurs built a dynasty model that new anti-tanking rules now make impossible to replicate?

Yes. The Spurs’ recent build — landing Victor Wembanyama at No. 1 in 2023, Stephon Castle at No. 4 in 2024 and Dylan Harper at No. 2 in 2025 — is essentially the kind of draft run the NBA’s new anti-tanking rules are meant to stop. Under the league’s new 3-2-1 lottery reforms, beginning with the 2027 draft and running through 2029 unless renewed, teams cannot win the No. 1 pick in consecutive drafts or hold top-five picks in three straight years. That directly targets the path San Antonio used to assemble its current core. The flattened lottery odds also reduce the reward for finishing at the very bottom, while the three worst teams are actively penalized with fewer lottery balls than teams slightly above them. The league also now has broader power to punish obvious tanking behavior. That does not mean dynasties are impossible to build. It means this specific model — stacking multiple elite prospects through repeated top-five finishes tied to losing — is far harder to repeat. Future contenders will likely need a more mixed approach: one franchise star from the draft, stronger mid-round scouting, trades, cap management and player development. That is why the Spurs are in a uniquely favorable position now. Their young stars are already on rookie-scale deals, which helps offset De’Aaron Fox’s expensive and imperfect fit. In effect, San Antonio may have completed this version of a dynasty foundation just before the league moved to close that door.

3 articles · Updated · SB Nation · Jun 22

12.8 points and six assists on 43% true shooting in the five-game title series turned De'Aaron Fox into San Antonio's biggest offseason question after its first failed championship push since 2014.
A $49.5 million extension now looks rich: Fox was valued at $35.3 million this season based on 9.3 wins, while his on-ball style and shaky 3-point shooting overlap with young guards Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper.
30% to 32% of the cap through 2029-30 would normally make that contract a trade candidate, but Victor Wembanyama, Harper and Castle are still on rookie-scale deals, giving the Spurs short-term room to absorb the overpay.
Harper's rise complicates the rotation, and the proposed fix is to move Fox into a sixth-man role; if he resists, a trade becomes the likelier path as roster costs climb.