Draymond Green Reacts to Massive De'Aaron Fox Contract

"I don’t love this for the Spurs," O'Connell posted. "Fox is not a max level point guard on any team, and in San Antonio he has overlapping skills with Castle and Harper."

Green, on the other hand, had a rather neutral response.

"Imagine the pieces you can bring in, in that salary slot, to help speed up a rebuild," Green wrote. "One thing for certain, in the next 24 months, Fox will not be a worse player than he is today."

ESPN NBA insider Bobby Marks is another analyst who warned San Antonio against signing Fox to a massive extension, noting that Fox's new contract has him making the same amount of money as Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic, who has five first-team All-NBA nods as opposed to Fox's single NBA All-Star appearance in 2023.

"They're both in that seven to nine years of service range, four years, up to $229 million," Marks said. "The first-year salary extension, which would be for the 2026-2027 period, would be between $49 and $51 million.

"Would he be a max player if he were in Denver? No. I think you have to be careful handing out $51-$52 million contracts to really good players who are top-level starters but not all-stars. That's where I stand."

The Spurs drafted guard Dylan Harper with the No. 2 overall pick in June's NBA draft, adding the Rutgers product to an already stacked backcourt unit that includes the now extended Fox as well as reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle. Before Fox inked his extension on Monday, reports last week suggested that Harper's presence in San Antonio could grow to the point that Fox becomes expendable and eventually a trade asset for the franchise.

Fox certainly has the opportunity to silence a lot of his most vocal critics this upcoming season, especially now that he has the financial backing of the franchise that gave up a decent amount to acquire him from Sacramento at the trade deadline.