The San Antonio Spurs recently made their first major move of the Wemby era by acquiring De’Aaron Fox. This three-team deal involving Bulls guard Zach LaVine and Kings forward Kevin Huerter was made on the same day when we were rocked by the Luka Doncic-AD trade! While this conveniently reduced some of the focus on Fox, the impact of his move cannot be underestimated. To let that belief live up to the hype, only one question needs to be asked now: When will the 27-year-old point guard play?

According to Underdog NBA on X, De’Aaron Fox has now been made available to be a part of the Spurs squad. This means his debut could come as early as Wednesday when Victor Wembanyama and Co. take on the Atlanta Hawks. Fox averaged 26.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 5.3 assists against the Hawks in the last 10 matchups between the two entities. So, the upcoming debut could be as good a timing for the player as any!

According to RotoWire, the trade move can result in specific changes to the Spurs’ starting lineup too. De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle can serve as the starters on the backcourt. Meanwhile, Chris Paul moves to a reserve role for the time being. This would give Paul déjà vu from the Warriors’ 2023-24 season. And with the presence of the other offensive forces, Fox could see a slight reduction in the career-high 37 minutes he averaged in the last 45 games with the Sacramento Kings. After all, both Mike Brown and Doug Christie ran tight rotations.

De’Aaron Fox had signed a 5-year, $163,000,300 contract back in November 2020. With the trade, the Spurs took the charge of paying out the remaining amount over the ongoing and next season. Despite Fox being the 39 highest-paid basketball player, ‘The Sporting News’ believes that the Spurs may choose to gamble on the player. Instead of waiting till Fox is eligible for a new contract at the end of the 2025-26 season, the team might lock him on a long-term deal before then. This move may reportedly affect Victor Wembanyama’s extension since the Spurs will have to adjust the salary cap. Therefore, the upcoming games could be a litmus test for whether the player is worth it or not.

The San Antonio Spurs hold a 21-26 win record and occupy the 11 seed in the Western Conference. Time is slipping away for them to acquire a playoff-level seed. Fortunately, Fox’s offensive prowess can help the team make a bigger dent. However, if one were to listen to controversial Undisputed host Skip Bayless, then the point guard can do more!

De’Aaron Fox’s trade marks the end of Victor Wembanyama’s honeymoon period, claims Skip Bayless

Skip Bayless put out an 11-minute video in the aftermath of De’Aaron Fox’s trade. He highlighted his excitement over the deal by referencing the 2017 game between Kentucky and UCLA, in which “De’Aaron Fox cooked poor Lonzo Ball that night. Cooked him for 39 points.” Acquiring a player of such caliber would certainly raise expectations for the team. Bayless knew this and was prepared to send a warning to the team’s young lead scorer!

“You know what my first thought was? Hey Wemby. Victor Wembanyama. Your honeymoon just ended” said the 73-year-old basketball critic. “Now you’re going to be held accountable because your all-time great stats aren’t translating into winning! Wemby, your team as we speak is 21 and 25. And now you got your All-Star running mate you got your new pick and roll partner for the next 5, 10, who knows, 12 years. It’s you two and actually Victor it’s just you. What you got?”

Victor Wembanyama is someone who has been on Skip Bayless’s radar for quite a while. After arriving at the NBA and leaving fans and analysts in awe, the French player looked to build upon his rookie season performance during the ongoing season. This allowed the veteran host to serve as an analyst, providing critique where he felt it needed to be given out. Amongst them was one where Bayless had stated “I don’t see any defensive commitment, and Wemby is still taking way too many threes; he’s shooting 23 percent from three, and he’s got a beautiful stroke, but he’s 7-foot-4, really 7-4. I don’t want him just standing out there all the time taking eight threes a game”. With this trade, the level of personal accountability will only increase. Bayless will keep that in check.

Victor Wembanyama, on an individual level, is already leaving a memorable mark in the NBA. He leads the league in blocks, is a leading candidate for Defensive Player of the Year, and continuously drops double-doubles to the point that even his averages reflect that! Despite this, the individual prowess doesn’t matter much to the veteran host unless it translates to the benefit of the San Antonio Spurs as a whole. With De’Aaron Fox, Bayless hopes that changes.