A few days before the Spurs held their annual media day, the news broke that San Antonio’s sixth-year guard Devin Vassell will miss the start of the upcoming season as he recovers from offseason surgery to repair a stress fracture in his right foot.
Vassell sat down with KSAT 12 on media day and explained what went wrong after his surgery, which delayed his availability ahead of the Spurs’ training camp.
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“After the season, obviously was dealing with this injury with my foot, tried to let it heal naturally, and it just didn’t heal how it was supposed to,” said Vassell. “I needed to get a surgery to get it cleaned up. My surgery was in June, June 26th, which is my mom’s birthday — happy birthday to mom — now I’ve just been rehabbing to get it right and I’m close, I’m close to returning.”
Vassell said he’s set to be reevaluated on Nov. 1 with the hopes he’ll be fully recovered, but he’s not going to rush his return with the risk of it delaying his recovery process.
“Trust me, we’re super close,” Vassell reassured.
In the meantime, Vassell is excited to see who steps up in his absence. There’s a window of opportunity for Spurs rookie Stephon Castle to pick up more minutes until Vassell returns.
“We have some great players on our team who can come in and step up,” Vassell said. “I’m actually excited for them to see how they step up in that role. I’m working every day to get back and as soon as I can get back, and as soon as I know that my foot is good and I’m 100% healthy, I will be back on that court.”
When the time comes for Vassell’s return to the lineup, the Georgia native vows the Spurs will have a defense-first mindset while playing fast-paced offensively.
“Just being disruptive,” Vassell said of the team’s identity in 2024-25. “I think if we can get out in those passing lanes and get out in transition, we’re running, throwing lobs, having a good time, getting open threes, early threes. When you’re in transition is probably the most fun. It starts with getting stops though.”
The Spurs, a young team with a sprinkle of veteran talent after the offseason additions of Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes, have put the playoffs as the expectation for themselves in 2024-25.
Vassell believes the state of the NBA leans favorable to a team like San Antonio making a name for themselves in the postseason.
“It’s a new year, it’s a new wave,” Vassell said. “It’s a bunch of young teams who are coming in. You look at OKC, you look at some of these teams who got a lot of young guys there — they’re taking over the league. I look at us and I’m like, why not us?”
Vassell went on to say that all the Spurs need to do is make the playoffs — anything is possible from there.
