Devin Vassell
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Devin Vassell of the San Antonio Spurs has missed the last 12 games due to an injury.
The San Antonio Spurs have been playing without Devin Vassell since he suffered an injury on December 29 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Vassell has missed the last 12 games, with the Spurs going 7-5 in his absence.
After a few seasons of being the Spurs’ second option on offense, Vassell has taken a backseat in this campaign. Victor Wembanyama remains the focal point of Mitch Johnson’s offense, while De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle are his second and third options.
Vassell is averaging 15.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game this season. This is his lowest-scoring season since his second year in San Antonio. Nevertheless, he’s still a vital part of the Spurs’ success moving forward.
In his absence, the Spurs have turned to Julian Champagnie, who has answered the call as a starter. Champagnie is averaging 16.5 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists in his last 12 games.
Coach Johnson Shares Update on Vassell
Speaking to reporters before the Spurs’ game against the Houston Rockets on Tuesday, coach Mitch Johnson provided an update on Devin Vassell’s recovery. Johnson had some good news regarding Vassell, who has made progress and is getting closer to a return.
“He’s at the stage now where he’s probably through the medical minutiae that I don’t really understand. And now he’s on the court, and he had a good day today. (The question now is), how does he respond or react after that? And we have to continue to build that up and give him obviously more than one or two of those (workouts) to make sure he’s ready for an NBA game, but he’s doing really well,” Johnson said, via Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, there are three kinds of adductor strains. The Spurs didn’t issue an official grade on the severity of Vassell’s injury.
Since he didn’t require surgery, it was a Grade 3 strain. But with Vassell approaching a month since suffering the injury, it’s safe to assume that he had a moderate strain.
With his status now day-to-day, it won’t be surprising if he gets cleared as early as early next week. Knowing how the Spurs handle their injuries, he’s going to be on a minutes restriction upon his return before playing his usual rotational minutes.
Spurs Could Have A Vassell Problem
The Spurs are officially contenders in the Western Conference due to their 3-1 record against the Oklahoma City Thunder this season. They also have a combination of a superstar in Victor Wembanyama, a clutch performer in De’Aaron Fox and a bunch of young players under team control for years.
Cal Durrett of Air Alamo sounded alarm bells on the future of Devin Vassell due to his contract.
“The Spurs will have to tighten their belt financially. They already did so by not extending Jeremy Sochan but could eventually have to let players such as Harrison Barnes and Keldon Johnson leave in free agency. Vassell may also eventually need to be traded in the name of cutting costs, though moving on from him could be trickier,” Durrett wrote.
San Antonio can worry about the situation after the season, since they are perfectly capable of making noise in this year’s playoffs.