De’Aaron Fox joined the San Antonio Spurs not to be a number one option, but to be the best running mate that Victor Wembanyama could’ve asked for in his second season in the NBA. But the seven-foot-three Frenchman went down with a blood clot in his shoulder that will cause him to miss the rest of the season, so for now, Fox is the leading man on a San Antonio squad that is racing towards the bottom of the lottery.
Fox and the new-look Spurs will take on the New Orleans Pelicans at 8 p.m. ET tonight, and if San Antonio loses, it will drop into a tie with the Portland Trail Blazers for the eighth-worst record in the NBA. In eight games as a Spur, Fox is averaging 21.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, San Antonio (+124) is a slight underdog and the point total is set to 239.5. Below, I’ve outlined my favorite props centered around Swipa.
Best De’Aaron Fox Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
De’Aaron Fox Most Points (+230)
Without Wembanyama, the Spurs really don’t have a lot of talent on the roster, so Fox has had to carry a large burden since the All-Star break. Over the last three games, he’s accounted for 28.5% of San Antonio’s possessions when he’s been on the court, the 21st-highest usage rate among 280 players who have played at least 30 minutes per game across that span. He had relatively impressive scoring performances — 26 and 27 points — in his first two games without Wembanyama before posting a 13-point stinker on Sunday night against the Pelicans, a performance in which he shot just three-for-16 from the field. He averages nine points more than the second-highest-scoring Spur scheduled to suit up tonight and should be able to bounce back against a New Orleans defense that allows the fifth-most points to opposing players.
Fox has three main competitors on the Pelicans’ roster, given that Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum, and Trey Murphy III all average between 22 and 25 points per game. Williamson was the leading scorer on Sunday night, but he put up only 22 points, so if he repeats a similar performance tonight against a San Antonio defense that has allowed the 12th-most points per game — including the 14th-fewest since Wembanyama’s injury — Fox should have a relatively beatable number. Fox has scored 23 or more points 31 times this season, including four times since arriving in Texas.
De’Aaron Fox O2.5 Three-Pointers Made (+135)
If Swipa scores enough points to be the game’s leading scorer, he’ll also probably have to make at least three triples. He’s attempted exactly seven triples in each of the three games he has played for the Wemby-less Spurs, and he drained three of them in each of his first two games before making just one on Sunday night. Fox has never been a three-point sniper, and his 32.0% mark this season is the fourth-lowest that he has posted in his career, but his 32.3% attempt rate is the second-highest of his career. He’ll need to be a little more accurate than average, given that he’s only attempted nine three-pointers in a game six times this season.
Thankfully for Fox, New Orleans has been one of the league’s worst teams at preventing threes this season. The Pelicans are allowing the second-most three-point attempts and makes, and opponents are connecting at the eighth-highest clip. New Orleans is allowing wide-open threes — defined as such when the nearest defender is more than six feet away — at the league’s fourth-highest rate. In his eight games with the Spurs, Fox is shooting 35.3% on wide-open threes, but he was slightly more accurate — 36.4% — in Sacramento.
