In direct response to the 2025 NBA Championship, this summer, the majority of teams out West have been busy trying to better their odds of keeping up with the dynasty-aspiring OKC Thunder.
From the reigning second-seeded Houston Rockets agreeing on a blockbuster trade for Kevin Durant back in June to the Denver Nuggets expertly fleshing out their supporting cast around the likes of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon, Oklahoma City's inner-conference competition only seems to be growing.
On Monday, this kind of sentiment managed to become even stronger, as the San Antonio Spurs opted to take their first step toward locking down their impressive core for the long term by signing star guard De'Aaron Fox to a lucrative new extension.
Spurs make themselves long-term Thunder foe with Fox extension
As first reported by ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania, Fox agreed to sign a four-year, $229 million maximum contract extension that will keep him in San Antonio through the 2029-30 season.
What makes this deal all the more impressive from the Spurs' perspective, and perhaps a bit troubling for the Thunder, is the fact that the 27-year-old's new pact won't kick in until the 2026-27 season, which is the final year of all-world wunderkind big Victor Wembanyama's rookie-scale deal.
This gives the Spurs an additional two years to try and continue to stockpile even more quality talent before any real, potentially crippling tax penalties might come into play.
Considering Wemby is still only 21 years old and already an established All-Star, for a while now, the belief has been that the Spurs are bound to be a thorn in the side of the Thunder for many years to come.
Adding a proven, All-NBA lead-guard like Fox into the mix only makes this idea all the more plausible.
While San Antonio may have gone a measly 1-2 against Oklahoma City last season, only one of these games was played with Wembayama in the fold, while none featured both him and Fox on the hardwood together.
Expect their successes against both OKC and all other teams in the association to be much more notable come 2025-26 after Wemby makes his way back from deep vein thrombosis and, once camp kicks off, he and Fox can develop more on-court chemistry together.
Currently, the club's over/ under total win projection is set at 43.5, roughly nine more than they claimed last year.