De’Aaron Fox Is the X-Factor to San Antonio Spurs Playoff Success

The San Antonio Spurs took care of the Portland Trailblazers in round one on Tuesday night, finishing the series off 114-95 in a “gentleman's sweep”. Victor Wembanyama was back to 100% in this one with a quiet, yet efficient 17-point, 14-rebound performance.

Outside of missing some time with a concussion, Wemby proved, at least early in the playoffs, that the moment will not be too big for him. Excluding game two, where he only played 12 minutes before leaving with his concussion, Wemby averaged 26-points and 10-rebounds a night in this series. Also, Portland did not reach 100 points in any full game in which Wemby was available.

All of this goes to say that the Spurs can go as far as Wemby takes them in the playoffs. He’s the face of their franchise and proving to be at least a top-five player in the entire league.

I wanted to start this by giving Victor Wembanyama his due flowers, because the Spurs are truly great because of him; however, De’Aaron Fox might be the single most underrated player in the entire NBA.

Throughout the playoffs, we’ve seen the rise of San Antonio’s other young stars in Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper. Both of them have been tremendous at points in the playoffs, and because of that, it’s hard to imagine a future where the Spurs can keep Fox long-term.

But that’s the best part about watching a young team. You’re able to keep a lot of veterans on the rosters, while the young and up-and-coming stars are still on their rookie contracts. Because of that, a guy like De’Aaron Fox can become really underrated.

Outside of a poor shooting game two, Fox was super efficient in this first round of the playoffs. He averaged just over 20 points a game while shooting 50% from the field and 37% from three. Most importantly, in the fourth quarter of the final two games of the series, he emerged as the closer.

Over those two games, he was 10/13 from the field in the 4th quarter, and was consistently hitting big shots when the Spurs needed them. One of the biggest issues young teams face in the playoffs is closing out games.

You obviously need Wemby to take over most fourth quarters, but having a reliable guard who consistently hits big shots and plays his best in the clutch is massive. Castle and Harper are going to be the future, but San Antonio looks like a team that can win right now. If that's going to happen, they’re going to need Fox to continue his great play in the clutch.