SAN ANTONIO – The new-look San Antonio Spurs will be without one of their veteran mainstays to start the upcoming season.
Shooting guard Devin Vassell, who missed the final eight games of the 2023-24 season, will also miss the Spurs’ Oct. 24 regular season opener against the Dallas Mavericks.
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The Spurs said on Friday that he is currently participating in non-contact basketball activities. His injury status will be reevaluated on Nov. 1.
Vassell had the third metatarsal head in his right foot surgically repaired after the end of last season, the team said.
The Florida State alum started a career-high 62 games in 2023-24 while also posting career bests in scoring (19.5), assists (4.1), and field goal percentage (47.2%). Vassell signed a five-year contract extension worth $146 million with San Antonio in Oct. 2023.
The franchise also announced injury updates for two other members of its 2023-24 rotation.
Power forward Zach Collins, who started 29 games last season, is expected to be ready for the Spurs’ season opener. On the final day of the 2023-24 regular season, Collins dislocated his shoulder on April 14 against the Detroit Pistons.
After his surgery to repair a torn labrum, the Spurs said Collins can now participate in all basketball activities. Collins averaged 11.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in 2023-24.
Center Charles Bassey has had a difficult road back to the court, but the Spurs said he is also expected to be available for their season opener.
Bassey, who moved from Nigeria to San Antonio and attended St. Anthony Catholic High School as a teenager, missed the final 63 games of the 2023-24 season.
He tore his left anterior cruciate ligament while playing for the Austin Spurs on Dec. 10, 2023, the Spurs said.
Now, 10 months after ACL surgery, Bassey is on a gradual ramp-up to playing live basketball. Last season, he appeared in 19 games as a reserve in San Antonio.