Permanence, identity, and the next step down the long path ahead
Devin Vassell becomes the latest young Spur to climb the ladder toward a bigger role and a greater responsibility.
Photo credit: The Associated Press
Friday night’s game against the Atlanta Hawks wasn’t the first Devin Vassell has started for the Spurs. Injuries, rest days and illnesses had previously provided such an opening 14 times along the way during the brief career of the second-year wing. But the day after San Antonio traded beloved starting guard Derrick White to the Boston Celtics, the feeling behind this particular opening nod and the ones that followed was palpably different — like there was a semblance of permanence.
While much of the Spurs’ current roster will forever be linked to the awkward, confined space of the post-Kawhi-Leonard era, the circumstances under which some of the players were drafted were unquestionably varied.
White was drafted in 2017 to provide immediate support as a seasoned 23-year-old out of college. With Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker on their last legs, San Antonio wasn’t looking for a project as it transitioned to its next timeline. A do-it-all bit of connective tissue that could thrive in any scheme and alongside any player archetype, White was the perfect fit for a two-star system and a team like the Spurs that had hoped and planned for a long run of title contention with Leonard at the helm.
But those plans shifted following the painful Kawhi saga. San Antonio would go on to draft four perimeter players over the course of the next four summers, and in the blink of an eye, White was somehow the old guy at 27 years of age. The timeline had been reset, and the sometimes cold business of the NBA marketplace presented a good opportunity for the rebuilding Spurs to trade him for assets — a chance to move a “win now” type of player for a “win later” return on investment.
While that may confuse the hell out of the casual Spurs fan, the die-hards and nerds were ecstatic. Affections aside, paying an in-his-prime White to play for a team that isn’t exactly primed for a postseason push — let alone a championship run — while younger players waited in line would only make less sense the more time passed.
The initial jolt of the news may have caused some whiplash, but the quick realization that the future is indeed now sent a wave of energy through a team and fan base that needed it.
Vassell didn’t bat an eye at the new prospects ahead of him last Friday night. He immediately opened the bag of tricks that’s produced many of his early career flashes of promise — diving and cutting to the rim, curling and flaring off screens away from the ball, pulling up in his mid-range sweet spots out of the pick-and-roll, and flatly dunking on people. And at a very basic level, his presence in the starting lineup just made sense.
White said several times throughout the course of his San Antonio career he felt more comfortable off the ball. While he’s capable as a movement shooter when he’s hitting, he’s at his best when he’s able to flow into secondary and tertiary ball-handling options where he can create in space. But given his struggles from the 3-point line and the team’s need for another playmaker outside of Dejounte Murray, the space in which White thrives was difficult to come by this season. And unless his shot was falling, the redundancy in the backcourt for that opening group could seem a little glaring at times.
Vassell, on the other hand, is just a natural swingman whose skill-set allows him to slide in seamlessly in a Murray-led offense. With his high release and natural scoring ability both on and off the ball, solid screen navigation, promising in-between game and effortlessly smooth transition forays, Vassell adds unique elements to a Spurs’ offensive attack in need of dynamic talent and versatility.
Defensively, his length paired alongside Murray’s gives San Antonio’s backcourt a combined wingspan at the guard positions that would make an albatross swoon. The two account for 3.6 steals and 6.5 deflections per 75 possessions, according to BBall Index ($), and if they’re beaten off the line or forced into help-and-recover situations near the basket, they can hold their own with a combined 12.1 rim-contests per 75 possessions. Even more importantly, Vassell blocks nearly 16 percent of every shot he defends at the rim, a rate that ranks in the 96th percentile of all NBA players.
And he isn’t just an obvious pairing with Murray, as the starting lineup hasn’t really missed a beat this season when Vassell has been on the court in place of White. In 159 possessions, the lineup of Murray, Vassell, Keldon Johnson, Doug McDermott and Jakob Poeltl has chugged right along, scoring 115.7 points per 100 possessions with the highest net rating (6.1) of any of the team’s most-used five-man groups, per Cleaning the Glass.
The Spurs score more efficiently, get to the line more often, and hold opponents to a lower effective-field-goal percentage when Vassell joins the regular starters on the court in place of White. But it’s important not to confuse a good fit with overall ability. It may be a while before you see Vassell coming off the bench again in San Antonio, but there are still several leaps left to be made in his game before he reaches the level White has achieved as a player
While he may not have been an ideal starting guard next to Murray, White did a little bit of everything in San Antonio, and the early returns in Boston have shown he’s doing the same for the Celtics already. The Spurs will miss his playmaking, versatility, pick-and-roll defense on the perimeter, shot-blocking from the guard position and, of course, his preternatural ability to take charge after charge after charge. But his game wasn’t built for the role he occupied in San Antonio this season. In Boston, he’s the perfect pressure-release valve for two stars in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown while manning a backcourt with Marcus Smart. He no longer has to be a primary initiator of an offense for a rebuilding team, and it’d be a surprise to most who have watched him extensively if he didn’t thrive in his new role with the Celtics.
Now the show fully belongs to Murray, and the Spurs can dive in head-first with their backcourt of the future. Johnson has been fully entrenched as a starter for nearly two seasons now, Lonnie Walker IV (who has an uncertain future ahead in his own right), is the sixth man, Josh Primo is starting to creep into the picture, and now Vassell gets to take his turn ascending through the ranks with all the responsibility that comes with it.
“I told (Vassell), ‘You gotta be consistent. You know it’s not about scoring every night — what can you do to help impact the game and help your team win basketball games?’” Murray said Friday. “I’m gonna stay on him. I’m a big fan of him. He’s a great person off the floor, so he deserves everything. I’m excited to build with him.”
In an ultra-competitive league where most winning is done on the margins, confidence can be a kingmaker. When you know the spot in the lineup is yours to lose, your learn to explore the extra space; when you’re getting the first cracks at the invaluable opportunities, you know you’d better make the most of them; when your coach and teammates trust you to be a primary part of what the team is trying to build for the future, your job description takes on a different form. This is exactly why Vassell was drafted, and now it’s his time to run with the moment.
The Spurs know where they want their path to lead, but their long-term identity for the journey ahead is in its early stages of development. Piece by piece, they’re adding what they hope are permanent parts to the foundation; and Gregg Popovich, who’s always been hesitant to give too much rope to younger players, has loosened the grip a bit for Vassell.
“He’s making it so I’d better have a good reason why I don’t have him on the court,” Pop said.
And Devin doesn’t want to give him one, because he knows firsthand there’s always someone waiting in the wings.