Even though the Spurs have yet to win a game this week, things have started improving on the injury front in the last few days. On Wednesday against the Lakers, Jeremy Sochan (wrist) and Kelly Olynyk (heel)
made their season debuts, and now the most anticipated return is set to happen. After suffering from a hamstring strain during the offseason, De’Aaron Fox is finally set to make his debut tomorrow against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Fox’s return will bring some much needed ball-handling to the team, especially the starting unit, which has been running Stephon Castle at point guard to mixed results (the scoring and assists are there, but the turnovers have also been high). The loss of rookie guard Dylan Harper to a calf strain early in Sunday’s game in Phoenix only further exposed the Spurs’ lack of ball-handlers in their two losses. Fox’s return will not only bring a steady, veteran play-maker, but his scoring ability and gravity should also help alleviate some of the defensive pressure on Victor Wembanyama, who has been struggling with nonstop double-teams.
Fox was acquired last February in a trade that sent Zach Collins and Tre Jones to Chicago and Zach LaVine to the Kings as part of a three-team trade. Jordan McLaughlin also came over from Sacramento with Fox. Fox and Wemby only appeared in five games together before the latter was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis during the All-Star break and missed the second half of the season. Fox would play in 12 more games for the Spurs, averaging 19.7 points, 6.8 assists and 4.3 rebounds, before he was shut down to get surgery on his pinky finger. He signed a maximum contract extension this summer, and his return will finally give fans an extended look at what he and Wemby can do together as they seek to build a title contender.
His return leaves just Harper and Luke Kornet (ankle) left to get healthy. While Kornet, who was practicing with the team this week, is expected to return soon, Harper is a little more up in the air. The Spurs only ruled him out for this week in their initial report, but calf strains are known to take a few weeks to heal, so we’ll see. (For what it’s worth, Shams said both players are “working their way back”.) Regardless, it will be great to have Fox back, and this is the closest the Spurs have been to fully healthy so far this season.
