After trading for him at the deadline, the Spurs reached an agreement with De’Aaron Fox on Monday, extending him for four years and $229 million. The deal is similar to, but slightly larger than, the four-year, $208 million max extension that the Nuggets gave Jamal Murray last offseason.
BREAKING: San Antonio Spurs star De'Aaron Fox has agreed to a four-year, $229 million maximum contract extension with the franchise, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul told ESPN. The max deal secures Fox's future in San Antonio through the 2029-30 season. pic.twitter.com/vvCdMExAbt
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 4, 2025
The Murray deal was, in some ways, necessary for the Nuggets to get done, but at the same time, it felt like a drastic overpay, even in the moment. It hasn’t even kicked in yet, but it hasn’t aged particularly well. With a lot of infamous contracts coming off the books in recent years and others getting bought out of theirs, like Bradley Beal, it was fair to argue that Murray had the worst contract in the league.
But now, Jamal and the Nuggets can rest easy, because Fox’s deal has trumped Murray’s. Fox has been in the league since 2018, made just one All-Star team, and made just one playoff appearance - a first-round loss in 2023.
He’s a guy who needs to operate with the ball in his hands, is a subpar three-point shooter, and is not a great defender. He’s a very good player, but for the Spurs to give him this contract when he has only played 17 games in San Antonio, we’ve barely seen his fit with Victor Wembanyama, and the team has two potential young stars in the backcourt already with Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper is crazy.
Fox immediately in mix for worst contract in NBA
Luckily for the Spurs, their young players won’t get expensive for several years, so this deal won’t kill them. Still, maxing a guy who has never proven he contributes to winning and may not even be in the top half of starters for his position in the league is simply not good business.
Fans could argue that they could trade him, which is true, but his value is severly lowered by this new albatross contract and will make salary matching very difficult in any deal. Murray’s deal was clearly an overpay, but it made sense in the context of what the Nuggets need.
We’ve already seen the Nuggets win a title with Jamal playing a secondary role. He needs to be more consistent and stay on the floor, but at least we know that he’s a playoff riser and can be a key piece in taking the team over the top.
We don’t know anything like that when it comes to Fox. This is a huge gamble by the Spurs, and it feels like they have been trapped ever since the moment they made the trade to acquire him. We’ll see how the deal plays out, but early returns and reactions certainly aren’t promising.