Sixers Draft: De’Aaron Fox’s Fit and Lack Thereof

De’Aaron Fox has been tied to the Philadelphia 76ers in multiple reports — where does his game fit into Brett Brown’s system?

The 2017 NBA Draft should be an interesting one for the Philadelphia 76ers. After weeks of lauding the pick swap, their move up to three has made their selection, in many ways, a more difficult one. With Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball likely to come off the board before them, their decision could determine the direction that the teams behind them take — essentially setting the basis for the landscape of this year’s lottery.

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One of the most interesting developments thus far, though, has been the sheer number of names connected to Philadelphia. Josh Jackson, Jayson Tatum, Dennis Smith Jr., Malik Monk, De’Aaron Fox and even Frank Ntilikina have been thrown around the Sixers’ rumor mill, while the debate appears to be trending further and further away from the what seemed to be a predetermined selection in Jackson not too long ago.

In the midst of that rumor-logged firestorm, however, one name in particular stands out in an especially intriguing light — De’Aaron Fox.

Fox’s rise in recent months has occurred for relatively obvious reasons. After a rough season shooting the ball, he kicked it into another gear during the SEC and NCAA Tournaments this March, finding his stroke from mid-range and carrying a youthful Kentucky squad to the Elite 8. That all culminated with a 39-point outing in the Sweet 16, a game in which he outclassed projected second overall pick Lonzo Ball in virtually every facet.

Aside from his play alone, though, Fox has made significant strides for other reasons as well. His attitude alone is among the most promising in this year’s class, while his uncanny athletic tools and unmatched end-to-end quickness likely turned even more heads during the combine.

The vibe with Fox seems to be that he’s a jumper away from stardom, and that has even led some scouts to rank him as this draft’s best point guard, according to Jordan Schultz. And, while the first part of that sentiment is true, that does seem to be oversimplifying the issues.

If the Sixers do go for Fox at three, there’s no doubt as to whether or not he makes the team better. After running out a point guard sans a jumper in T.J. McConnell, Fox’s brings a wealth of athletic upside that could give a significant boost to Brett Brown’s offense — an offense that, at times, felt stagnant during stretches last season.

His defensive toolkit is promising as well, as his size and quickness allows him to body up point guards and play the passing lanes with ease. No point guards in this year’s lottery discussion defend as hard as Fox does on a possession-by-possession basis, and that type of energy is something Brown has always predicated in his rotations.

Where the issues manifest are when Ben Simmons enters the picture. There’s obvious benefit in allowing Fox to guard ones while Simmons matches up with fours (or threes) defensively, but the offensive match simply doesn’t work out on paper. With a rough jumper with an iffy release point, Fox’s spot-up shooting wasn’t strong enough to warrant much optimism — especially in the near future.

The majority of Fox’s offense comes off the dribble, bouncing his way around screens and needling his way through the teeth of the defense in search of opportunities. He not only needs other shooters around him in order to succeed, but becomes limited himself when forced out of an initiating role. Asking him to operate as an off-ball slasher is a gross misuse of his talents.

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The same goes for Simmons. As somebody without much of a jumper beyond the arc — for the time being — the best use of his talents comes when allowing him to operate downhill, utilizing his blend of size and speed to outmaneuver his defender and isolate positive matchups. The means a secondary ball handler who can run off of him in a necessity offensively, and Fox simply isn’t suited to that kind of role.

There’s an innate level of upside when looking at players like Fox, as his speed alone is enough to yield a mismatch against a number of NBA guards. But his jumper isn’t the only issue. It’s the inconsistency that was, as well as the general lack of comfort. While some of it can be attributed to a nagging injury, a good amount seemed mental. His elevation was odd, and his release points varied.

That’s far from a successful recipe at the NBA level.

A prospect whose game is based so heavily around his ball handling and whose development hinges so heavily on a jumper worries me, especially given the Sixers’ current state. Fox isn’t a top three talent, and he’s far from an ideal fit.

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Gambling on upside is always reasonable, but this would seem like a reach of massive proportions. The positives don’t outweigh the negatives, and the talent available outside of Fox should sway Philadelphia in a different direction.