The San Antonio Spurs made one of the most significant moves during the trade deadline, landing point guard De'Aaron Fox from Sacramento.
The idea was to pair Fox with ascending superstar Victor Wembanyama, creating a dynamic tandem to help the Spurs make a late postseason. push. However, Wembanyana is out for the rest of the season after sustaining blood clots in their right shoulder. The Spurs are seeing the reality of De'Aaron Fox leading the way — things can still be good, but Fox isn't in the tier of players who can do it all himself.
Fox has proven to be one of the best point guards in the league. He experienced some success in Sacramento with the Kings, ending their long playoff drought and his emergence into a top point guard in the league in nothing to scoff at, however, despite that success, there have been more empty seasons than deep playoff runs in his career — and that trend may continue with Wembanyama out.
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The Spurs are feeling it without Wemby
The Spurs are feeling Wembanyama's absence; Fox said as much recently.
"We feel that he's not out there," Fox said via Clutchpoints.
The Spurs are struggling on the court without their star center. They dropped their last four games since Wembanyama was ruled out and it seems without him their postseason hopes are slipping by the week.
Fox joined San Antonio, hoping to play with the generationally talented 21-year-old. However, he shared the court with the first-time All-Star for just five games. With a little over a month of the season remaining, there's still plenty of time to sneak into the Play-In tournament, however, the Spurs might be best suited looking toward the future.