How De'Aaron Fox will help the Spurs' offense

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Fox should thrive in San Antonio and could make the lives of his teammates, including Victor Wembanyama, much easier.

The Spurs' recent addition, De'Aaron Fox, could debut on Wednesday against the Hawks. After a few tough losses, San Antonio could use a jolt of energy and the star point guard should be able to provide it.

It will be very interesting to see how Fox adapts to the Spurs and vice versa. As with every mid-season trade, there's not much time to learn the terminology and develop chemistry with teammates before playing games that matter. That said, Fox should help immediately in several areas, especially on offense. Let's take a closer look.

The Fox-Wemby two-man should be deadly

The Spurs rank 28th in the league in possessions finished by the pick-and-roll ball handler and 25th in points per possession in that setting, according to Synergy Sports. It makes sense since there was no elite threat to attack after a ball screen.

That should change now that Fox is around. The talented point guard ranks 15th in the league in field goal attempts in the pick-and-roll and is one of the most efficient scorers in the league in that setting despite his high volume. He can score from all over the floor, but a key to his success is his floater, which he deploys perfectly when facing drop defense. He uses the screen to get past his defender, attacks the big man, who can't commit for fear of the pass, and stops to launch a lefty floater while the defender backpedals.

Fox being a volume pick-and-roll scorer could mean fewer pick-and-roll scoring opportunities for Wembanyama, but he should get much better looks. The pick-and-pop should continue to be there for Vic but if Fox gets it going with the floater, it will force the defense to commit to stopping him instead of focusing all their attention on Wemby, opening up lob opportunities. Their pick-and-roll will be "a pick your poison" type of situation as they can both score and sending help will mean leaving a shooter or cutter open. Both can also attack switches, so that's not a solution for the defense.

There are spacing issues to consider, unfortunately. The Spurs often play one and sometimes two non-shooters, which could negatively impact the Fox-Wemby two-man game. Fox's jumper and floater should still make him dangerous and there's always the option to have Jeremy Sochan screen while Wembanyama spaces the floor, something San Antonio already does.

Fox's quickness should help the Spurs play with better pace, even in the half-court

Opponents have often put bigger players on Chris Paul and pressured him on inbounds to disrupt him with their physicality because they knew Paul wasn't going to be able to make them pay by blowing by those guys at age 39. They can't do that to Fox, which should help with pace by getting the team into its sets quicker. It might seem like a small thing but anyone who has seen the Spurs take a long time to set up and have to rush a shot knows that it matters, and the numbers back it up, as San Antonio ranks ninth in shots taken in the last four seconds of the shot clock.

Fox's quickness should also help in transition. He's so fast and aggressive that it can take a second defender to slow him down. It's one of the things Paul himself said when asked about the trade.

The Spurs won't likely jump from 13th in pace to the top five in the league but should be able to take fewer shots late in the clock and score more efficiently on the break because of Fox.

Fox's scoring prowess should allow others to play smaller roles

Fox is not a pure point guard like Chris Paul or even Tre Jones, but that's a plus in San Antonio. The Spurs needed a primary ball handler and perimeter scorer and Fox is exactly that. In fact, Fox being the clear-cut first scoring option in the perimeter should help Devin Vassell. The young wing's biggest issues this season are his low percentage on pull-up threes and an increase in turnover percentage. A different, more off-ball-focused role should help him, and Fox can facilitate it.

Fox will also create for others. His assist percentage is not impressive, but in Sacramento Fox shared the floor and the control of the offense with Domantas Sabonis, one of the best passing big men in the league. Before teaming up with Sabonis, his assist percentage was significantly higher. There's no reason to believe he can't up his playmaking if needed, but it doesn't feel like it will be initially.

Poor shooting will still be a problem, but not because of Fox

Fox is a career 33 percent shooter and is connecting on a shade under that number this season, but a closer look at the numbers shows he shouldn't be a liability.

Around half of Fox's six three-point attempts per game come on pullups and he hits 33 percent on those. Opponents simply cannot go under every screen or space him out to nullify his quickness because he will take the shot and he'll make enough of them to have them rethink their strategy. Off the ball, Fox is shooting just 32 percent on catch-and-shoot attempts per game, undoubtedly a low number, but he's making 36 percent on his wide-open looks, so defenses can't ignore him. For reference, Chris Paul is shooting 30 percent on catch-and-shoot threes and he's not left open.

Fox won't fix San Antonio's shooting and spacing issues, but he shouldn't exacerbate them either.

Fox is not a perfect player but he's close to a perfect fit for the Spurs' offense, which will be faster, more dynamic and more balanced now that he's around to provide a true perimeter scoring threat and allow others to play the roles they are meant to play. The next few months should be exciting.