Can Spurs' Devin Vassell Make Another 'Significant Leap'?
Former first-round pick Devin Vassell has seen year-to-year improvements for the San Antonio Spurs. Each season, the Florida State product has increased both playing time and efficiency as a player.
The Spurs have geared towards a rebuild for a couple years now, and Vassell has seen leaps during each year of it. Now, the team has its prized possession in Victor Wembanyama.
For young guys, bringing in a top overall pick that will now be the center of the team could stunt development, but Vassell could see the opposite.
"Vassell has made a significant leap each of the past two seasons, and he just might continue that pattern in the upcoming campaign," Bleacher Report writes. "Shots could be harder to come by in this now Wembanyama-centric attack, but maybe that merely boosts Vassell's efficiency. This past season, he put up 18.5 points on 43.9/38.7/78 shooting with 3.6 assists against 1.5 turnovers."
Sure, shots may be harder to come by, but if teams figure out Wembanyama and game plan around him, players like Vassell will benefit by getting cleaner looks off and having less attention on them.
Spurs forward Keldon Johnson has seen a similar career trajectory as Vassell, and is coming off a 22 points per game season in his fourth year. While both players will likely take a backseat to Wembanyama as a second and third option, but will be ablate remain effective and efficient as they'll be able to focus on excelling in their roles.
As the team adds more young talent, the core will be established around Wembanyama, and Johnson and Vassell have the opportunity to establish themselves as complementary young stars. The three have the potential to learn to play together early and accelerate the rebuild to the next stage.
Vassell in particular can output a similar scoring production on better efficiency, and that would be the perfect leap for him. If Wembanyama struggles scoring at first, deferring to Vassell would also be a great idea to open things up offensively.
You can follow Kade Kimble on Twitter @KadeKimble.
Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Spurs? Click Here.
Follow Inside the Spurs on Twitter.
Follow Inside the Spurs on Facebook.
Want even more San Antonio Spurs news? Check out the SI.com team page here
