San Antonio Spurs Provide Injury Update for Devin Vassell

On Friday, the San Antonio Spurs announced that Devin Vassell will miss at least the first five games of the 2024-25 NBA season as he recovers from surgery on his right foot. Vassell will be reevaluated on November 1, after the Spurs have played the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets (twice), Oklahoma City Thunder, and Utah Jazz.

Vassell missed the last eight games of last season, which was originally written off as resting and preserving him after the season was effectively over, but it has since been determined that his injury was a bit more severe than the Spurs let on.

However, Vassell seems optimistic and explained that he is working out and doing pick-and-roll drills, which signals that he might have an increased role once he returns. While he sits out, there has been much speculation about who will start in his absence, with Malaki Branham, Keldon Johnson, Stephon Castle, and Julian Champagnie all being listed among the possibilities.

As usual, Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich played it close to the chest.

"I have no idea. I don't know who's gonna start," Popovich said "I think [Wembanyama is] going start. After that, who the hell knows? It's up to them. They'll show me."

While not being totally serious, Popovich did give some insight into the Spurs' mentality. Wembanyama is a focal point of the organization, and nothing other than that is set in stone.

Vassell is eager to get back to playing and provided an optimistic injury update at media day.

"It didn't heal how it's supposed to, so I needed surgery to clean it up," he explained "I feel better now than I felt at the end of the season, so that's the good thing. It was just nagging."

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Luckily for Popovich, it sounds like Vassell will be back to form sooner rather than later, so he won't have to fill a void in the starting lineup for very long.