Despite the San Antonio Spurs getting off to a strong start this season, a recent loss led to questions about whether it was time to upgrade several key positions. After their second loss to the Phoenix Suns, guard Devin Vassell’s play has come under increased scrutiny.
While Vassell has played well this season, his production simply doesn’t match his contract. After all, including this season, he is owed $105.6 million by the Spurs. That includes three more seasons in which he will be making roughly $27 million annually.
Obviously, the salary cap continues to rise, and that has inflated contracts. Even so, the Spurs likely didn’t foresee Vassell being a merely good starting guard when they signed him to a five-year extension.
Devin Vassell is a capable starter, just not an above-average one
To his credit, he has played well enough to keep from being a negative asset, which preserves the Spurs’ ability to trade him, and his massive salary would make matching salaries for a star a snap. It seems inevitable that the Spurs will eventually move on from Vassell as they are forced to consolidate salaries when their roster gets more expensive.
In fact, were they to extend Julian Champagnie on the cheap, then they’d have a ready-made replacement already on the roster. While he isn’t the same level of scorer as Vassell, he is a reliably good shooter and has more size and defensive versatility too.
Or, more likely, Stephon Castle is Vassell’s long-term replacement if the Spurs can make the 3-guard trio work. That is not to say that Vassell doesn’t hold more value than being a stopgap option.
Devin Vassell is solid for the Spurs, just not irreplaceable
He has been far more impactful defensively this season and has come up big in fourth quarters by forcing turnovers. Offensively, his 3-point shooting hasn’t rebounded to peak 2022-23 levels when he shot a blistering 38.7% on 7.0 3-point attempts per game.
Nevertheless, he is still shooting above league average on 6.9 3-point attempts per game. Given how few shooters the Spurs have, him being a high-volume shooter is low-key a big deal.
He has also seen his usage drop to its lowest since he was a rookie, with him being a distant third option and a fourth option in the few games the Spurs have had Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, and Stephon Castle.
In a vacuum, having a fourth option average around 14 points and playing good defense is fine. And it is, but he is now a pretty good role player and getting paid like an above-average starter.
That’s not sustainable. Thus, the Spurs should strongly consider moving on from him in the near future if he isn’t able to up his game, considering they have internal options to replace him.
