The San Antonio Spurs lost one star in Victor Wembanyama last month. They just lost another.
Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox will undergo season-ending surgery Tuesday for tendon damage in his left pinkie, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The injury has reportedly been a season-long issue for Fox, who sustained it in training camp with the Sacramento Kings in October.
The Spurs acquired Fox at the trade deadline last month after the All-Star requested a trade from Sacramento, with San Antonio as his reported preferred destination.
As Charania puts it, the decision is designed to expedite Fox’s rehab and give him a chance to work with the Spurs’ roster in the offseason. Viewed from a different angle, the Spurs decided Fox being available for the offseason was more important than the current regular season, in which they have little left to play for.
Wembanyama was ruled out for the season on Feb. 20 after he was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder, taking nearly every gust of wind out of the Spurs’ sails following the Fox trade. The team is 3-8 since that day and currently sits in 12th place in the West at 27-37.
With no Wembanyama, the team is more incentivized to lose as many games as it can and hope a shiny new Cooper Flagg falls into its lap, rather than push for a berth in the play-in tournament. Having Fox undergo surgery that has been bothering him all season, but wasn’t preventing him from posting his usual numbers, fits into that dynamic.
When both players are healthy, Fox figures to be a great complement to Wembanyama’s other-worldly talent. He just didn’t have a chance to do that for more than five games this season.
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