DeAaron Fox

#2
Fox is a lot like a thoroughbred race horse. Great speed and quickness with some frailty. He may not be able take the pounding night after night. He has the potential to take over games on both ends of the floor. No limits to his ability.
 
#3
Fox is a lot like a thoroughbred race horse. Great speed and quickness with some frailty. He may not be able take the pounding night after night. He has the potential to take over games on both ends of the floor. No limits to his ability.
Agree, but the frailty thing is often assumed of skinny athletes and not based on a fair assessment of their body's abilities and limitations. I mean, you could very well be right that Fox is somewhat frail. But I think I'll wait and see how frail he is over the course of this next season - not including injuries that have nothing to do with being frail.
 
#7
I think one huge thing we saw from Fox this summer league was he was straight muscling dudes at the rim and finishing. He didn't have that ability last year. If hes added that strength to finish at the rim, hes going to be unstoppable as its damn near impossible to stay in front of him.
Asides from that, Joerger finally giving him the reins is going to be huge. He didn't really have any sort of green light last year and never got that opportunity to fully shine. There were lots of glimpses and if he can tie everything together we will go far.
 
#8
Nice video. DeArron clearly has great parents and a good supporting cast.

I thought it was interesting he played off the ball in summer league with Mason at point. His comments and mentality seems to align with being a shooting guard. Talks about being a star versus winning, talks about not giving up the ball with 2 seconds on the clock. Those are the comments of a top shooting guard. Wonder if Bogi will be the primary ball handler in the half court and Fox will play off the ball?
 
#9
When all is said and done, i think Isaac fox and mitchel will be the top 3 players from last years draft
I agree but I would make it a top five and I would add Markkanen and Tatum to that list. That seems like it was a solid draft year with a lot of good players. Outside of Mitchell, who looks like the potential transcendent superstar, Fox was the best player for the Kings.
 
#10
I think one huge thing we saw from Fox this summer league was he was straight muscling dudes at the rim and finishing. He didn't have that ability last year. If hes added that strength to finish at the rim, hes going to be unstoppable as its damn near impossible to stay in front of him.
That one game alone has me eager to see how he plays this season. He is the key to it all. Seems like Vlade and co have pushed all their chips on Fox and counting on him to be the man for the foreseeable future.
 
#13
Agree, but the frailty thing is often assumed of skinny athletes and not based on a fair assessment of their body's abilities and limitations. I mean, you could very well be right that Fox is somewhat frail. But I think I'll wait and see how frail he is over the course of this next season - not including injuries that have nothing to do with being frail.
I mention frailty because of the amount of injuries, not because of the way he looks or has a slight frame.
 
#15
I saw some of these games the tweet is referencing back well before Fox's hype really began on a national level and it was true. I tuned in to a game not knowing who he was. There to check in on Justise Winslow/Justin Jackson and specifically Kelly Oubre, who's stock was exploding at the time, left thinking that kid Fox is gonna be a big deal in a few years....

there's one kid in the HS class of 2022 named Bryce Griggs, he's listd at 6'1" and 175lbs plays for James Harden's AAU team. He is impressive to me vs older comp like Fox but it's not quite the same, De'Aaron was just like this ridiculous match-up issue, and raw force of nature... Griggs is like a smooth operating scorer thats polished well beyond his years, very different skillsets.

Most of the top ranked PG's in their mid-teens these days can't hold a candle next to Fox at that stage... The 2 PG's most commonly associated with being the top PG in HS; RJ Hampton and Cole Anthony are upperclassman now, but when they were lowerclassman they were dominant like Fox. Both of those players are surefire lotto picks as far as I'm concerned.. that young kid Bryce Griggs I mentioned ; I'd bet on him making the league for sure, he's crazy good for that age. it's sick.
 
#16
Asides from that, Joerger finally giving him the reins is going to be huge. He didn't really have any sort of green light last year and never got that opportunity to fully shine. There were lots of glimpses and if he can tie everything together we will go far.
Critical for this will be fox not being paired with Zach for any significant amount of time this year. I think he completely threw off Fox's effectiveness last year, and in a lot of cases got him overthinking his role in the half court when they were both on the floor at the same time. If Zach is still on the team next year, i"m hoping it's in a role as a 15 min bench scorer when there is a matchup to exploit.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#17
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried at all about Fox's durability. He can't be a Russell Westbrook or a Wall and continually attack the basket in the half court and get hacked to death. Even Tyreke, a much stronger and physical guard, didn't get away with that. He's going to have to pick his spots, and be more like a Tony Parker, getting interior baskets with his quickness and craftiness, not with high-flying slam dunk acrobatics that leaves him very vulnerable to injury. Because Fox is a very smart dude, I think it's likely he does just that.
 
#18
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried at all about Fox's durability. He can't be a Russell Westbrook or a Wall and continually attack the basket in the half court and get hacked to death. Even Tyreke, a much stronger and physical guard, didn't get away with that. He's going to have to pick his spots, and be more like a Tony Parker, getting interior baskets with his quickness and craftiness, not with high-flying slam dunk acrobatics that leaves him very vulnerable to injury. Because Fox is a very smart dude, I think it's likely he does just that.
I'd still like to see him attack the basket much more than he did last year. I felt like he hardly did it. Mostly pulled up for midrange jumpers.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#19
I'd still like to see him attack the basket much more than he did last year. I felt like he hardly did it. Mostly pulled up for midrange jumpers.
I think it has more to do with how he attacks the basket. In his earlier years Tony Parker attacked the basket a lot, but did wasn't going up in the air with tomahawk slam dunks to do it. This coming year I'd like to see him attack the basket in fast break or semi fast break situations 3x more than what he did last year; then pick his spots in the half court.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#20
I think it has more to do with how he attacks the basket. In his earlier years Tony Parker attacked the basket a lot, but did wasn't going up in the air with tomahawk slam dunks to do it. This coming year I'd like to see him attack the basket in fast break or semi fast break situations 3x more than what he did last year; then pick his spots in the half court.
Parker also doesn't have the athletic ability Fox possesses, doesn't mean that Fox needs to stop going up strong. If he has been blessed with that type of leaping ability, why not turn it into a strength? That's not to say he can't learn the art of the floater, which he's shown he's capable of making last season.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#21
Parker also doesn't have the athletic ability Fox possesses, doesn't mean that Fox needs to stop going up strong. If he has been blessed with that type of leaping ability, why not turn it into a strength? That's not to say he can't learn the art of the floater, which he's shown he's capable of making last season.
It depends what you mean by going up strong. If you recall the first game of last season Fox went up very high for a slam dunk from the baseline, challenging a big man, and got met at the top floor by a block, which sent him crashing to the floor on his back. That was a "Welcome to the NBA" moment for Fox. It's those type of situations I don't want to see. (By the way, after that scary incident I didn't see Fox doing that anymore, a smart move on his part). Rather than challenging the length of big men by attempting a slam dunk over them, I'd rather see him challenge them more by using his quickness and speed advantage. Even with Fox's jumping ability, most big men in the NBA are going to be able to out-reach him if he is in their vicinity, but they won't come close to staying with his quickness or speed.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#22
It depends what you mean by going up strong. If you recall the first game of last season Fox went up very high for a slam dunk from the baseline, challenging a big man, and got met at the top floor by a block, which sent him crashing to the floor on his back. That was a "Welcome to the NBA" moment for Fox. It's those type of situations I don't want to see. (By the way, after that scary incident I didn't see Fox doing that anymore, a smart move on his part). Rather than challenging the length of big men by attempting a slam dunk over them, I'd rather see him challenge them more by using his quickness and speed advantage. Even with Fox's jumping ability, most big men in the NBA are going to be able to out-reach him if he is in their vicinity, but they won't come close to staying with his quickness or speed.
He may have hit the floor hard but you don't want a player to lose his aggression and I'm not expecting Fox to go in there and dunk with authority every time, I'm simply stating that since he's been blessed with athletic ability that settling only for floaters is him not using his ability to the fullest but we are talking about longevity here as well, you want him to play smart and be assertive.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#23
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried at all about Fox's durability. He can't be a Russell Westbrook or a Wall and continually attack the basket in the half court and get hacked to death. Even Tyreke, a much stronger and physical guard, didn't get away with that. He's going to have to pick his spots, and be more like a Tony Parker, getting interior baskets with his quickness and craftiness, not with high-flying slam dunk acrobatics that leaves him very vulnerable to injury. Because Fox is a very smart dude, I think it's likely he does just that.
Kevin Martin found a way to survive. I strongly suspect Fox will, too. :)
 
#28
Fox will be shut down without an outside shot.e did not shoot the ball well in SL.
This goes for our other very young prospects like Giles and Bagley as well....

If you are pretending you can speak with definity about the career arc of 19/20 year old supreme athletes, you are a Troll. Period.

It sullies this awesome board TBH.

Your point may turn out to be valid. However, if one of our kids is 6-8 years from their prime, and you make sweeping judgments about this young man's career as though you are this soothsayer or prophet , and expect the thousands of other people who log on to this site to agree with a very premature ( by many many years) prediction about these kids future.

I do not mean to pick on you.

You have a valid point.....

The truth is, none of us know a thing about what we might see next season, and then the next......

I hope he has worked on his 3pt shot as well as his playmaking ability.

I have a lot of faith in Fox.

Again, not picking on you in particular. I think the the general malaise that has permeated this site has gotten to me. ;)
 
#29
Fox will be shut down without an outside shot.
Really? How do you explain John Wall then? His shooting numbers were worse than Fox even as the heralded #1 overall pick back in '10-'11.

Wall has improved during his 8 year career, for sure, but still isn't known as much of a shooter -- especially during his first 3 seasons -- but still finds a way to be an effective player (5x all-star).

You can have whatever opinion you'd like regarding De'Aaron's future development. But there is certainly precedent for players with Fox's size/speed/skillset having success w/o an outside shot. Wall is just one example and a good one since that is the player Fox seems to be compared to most. Because of this, I find your opinion a bit hasty and shortsighted.

And before anybody hits me with Wall being 'thicker and stronger' than Fox -- please remember that Wall came into the league under 200 lbs and not drastically larger than De'Aaron.
 
#30
yes he needs a consistent jump shot and he should be working on that aspect daily. Are the guys guarding him going to sag off of him of course they are hoping he will give it up or take a low percentage jumper. At this point in his career he’s best in a open court but with other players we have to get the ball to Fox I can see him as a player who can most always get open.