San Antonio Spurs wing Devin Vassell will make his season debut on Saturday, interim coach Mitch Johnson told reporters. As a result of offseason foot surgery, Vassell has missed the Spurs’ first nine games, including Thursday when San Antonio beat the Portland Trail Blazers 118-105 to begin a five-game homestand. Next up, the Spurs host the Utah Jazz on Saturday.
Vassell was “cleared for all basketball activities,” the team announced Thursday. He is expected to come off the bench Saturday and will be on a minutes restriction.
Vassell hasn’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 impending return is 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, according to the team.
The Spurs have started the season 3-5, with the fourth-worst offense in the league. Vassell’s absence is 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. When Vassell is 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 32.1% of their 3-point attempts this season — only three teams have been less accurate — and, when it comes to catch-and-shoot 3s in particular, they have shot a league-worst 30.7%. 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 on Wednesday, San Antonio started rookie Stephon Castle for the first time, next to Paul, Wembanyama, Julian Champagnie and Harrison Barnes. Vassell could simply slide into Castle’s spot when he’s healthy, 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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