San Antonio Spurs wing Devin Vassell made his season debut on Saturday, and despite a 111-110 loss to the Utah Jazz, it largely went well. Vassell made eight of his 13 shots to score 21 points in 22 minutes of action. As a result of offseason foot surgery, Vassell had missed the Spurs' first nine games, including Thursday when San Antonio beat the Portland Trail Blazers 118-105 to begin a five-game homestand.
Vassell hadn't appeared in a game since March 29. He missed the last eight games of the 2023-24 season because of a stress reaction in his right foot, an injury that he initially hoped would not require surgery. His return was welcome news for a team that just lost starting power forward Jeremy Sochan for an indefinite period of time. Sochan, who'd been having a breakout season, fractured his left thumb during Monday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers and had surgery to repair it on Wednesday in San Antonio.
The Spurs started the season 3-6, with the fourth-worst offense in the league, before Saturday's win. Vassell's absence was one of the reasons they've struggled to score; in 68 games last season, he was their second-leading scorer, averaging 19.5 points on 57.8% true shooting, and he expanded his pick-and-roll game. Chris Paul was supposed to make the team more organized, but the plan was to add Paul to the mix; instead, he effectively replaced Tre Jones, who sprained his right ankle in the opener and has been sidelined since. With Vassell back and in rhythm, he should relieve some of the pressure on franchise player Victor Wembanyama, whose efficiency has dipped at the beginning of Year 2.
Vassell's presence should also help San Antonio's spacing. The Spurs have made only 33.5% of their 3-point attempts this season -- only seven teams have been less accurate -- and, when it comes to catch-and-shoot 3s in particular, they had shot a league-worst 30.7% before Vassell's return. Vassell made 39.5% of his catch-and-shoot 3s last season and 43.2% the season prior. Ideally, he will also help make up for what they lost on the defensive end when Sochan got hurt, but this would require Vassell to make a leap on that end of the floor.
Without Sochan thus far, San Antonio has started rookie Stephon Castle next to Paul, Wembanyama, Julian Champagnie and Harrison Barnes. Vassell could eventually simply slide into Castle's spot, or Mitch Johnson, who is filling in for Gregg Popovich as the Hall of Fame coach deals with a health issue, could elect to experiment with a different look.
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