San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox is set to make his season debut Saturday night against the New Orleans Pelicans, Shams Charania of ESPN said in an appearance on “NBA Today.”
Fox is working his way back from a hamstring injury.
He will miss his eighth straight game Friday night as San Antonio hosts Houston in an NBA Cup contest.
Sources tell Charania that Friday day is considered to be a “ramp-up day” for Fox in preparation for playing on Saturday.
How will De’Aaron Fox’s return affect Spurs?
This shapes up to be the first extended run for Fox and Victor Wembanyama as teammates since Fox was acquired from Sacramento in February. They only played five games together before Wembanyama was declared out for the season with deep vein thrombosis.
The Spurs traded for Fox in hopes of finding an accomplished point guard who could bring out the best in the young French star. Since then, they unexpectedly rose to No. 2 in the draft lottery and selected Dylan Harper, raising questions about whether Fox, Harper and Stephon Castle can be successful on the same team.
Even with those concerns, San Antonio gave Fox a four-year max extension in August. Based on current projections, the deal could be worth up to $228.6M.
Fox’s return comes at an opportune time, as Harper is sidelined with a strained left calf and is expected to miss multiple weeks.
Fox was a former All-Star with the Kings and was considered to be one of the best young point guards in the league. He was traded after extension talks failed amid the belief that he wouldn’t sign a long-term deal in Sacramento.
