NBA Future Watch: Devin Vassell Basketball Cards, San Antonio Spurs – Devin Vassell is the youngest key contributor on one of the NBA’s biggest underdog stories of the 21st Century: the full-rebuild San Antonio team that aced out the LA Lakers for a spot in the Play-In Tournament. The son of a college basketball player, Vassell is blessed with tremendous athleticism and the story of his career is a journey to unlock tremendous potential. Vassell’s continued improvement through two college seasons and two at the pro level reflects an endgame with star-level skill refinement.
Starting on the hardcourt at age six on a team for older players, Vassell’s physical abilities blossomed through his youth and foreshadowed a tremendous high school career at Peachtree Ridge in the Atlanta suburbs. Vassell’s credentials there were impressive: a regional championship and great stats, peaking in his senior season: 21.6 PPG, 8.9 RPG, .410 3% and .790 FT%.
At Florida State, Vassell was brought along slowly, with 10.7 MPG in his freshman year – but he hit a game-winner against Clemson and the shot that sent the ACC Tournament game against Virginia Tech into overtime. Even in his breakout sophomore season, Vassell did not dominate the ball, with a mere 9.8 FGA, but he made the most of his shots with .490 FG% and .415 3%. Vassell added 5.1 RPG, burnishing his two-way bona fides as a swingman. The season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, but to that point was the most successful in program history with the first regular-season ACC Championship.
Declaring for the 2020 NBA Draft, Vassell’s athleticism and shot-making ability caused San Antonio to pounce with the 11th pick. Considering Vassell a developmental player relative to his considerable upside, once again Vassell was brought along slowly, with just 17.0 MPG and 4.9 FGA in his rookie season. Yet, Vassell’s respectable .347 3% and outstanding .843 FT% demonstrated the firepower in the holster.
Like Year Two with the Seminoles, Vassell has acquired expanded opportunities, but just enough to give a taste as to what’s possible. Vassell’s .360 3% and .832 FT% built a 16.2 PPG tally on a Per-36 Minutes basis. In the rotation shakeup following the Derrick White trade at the deadline, Vassell has gone from scoring double-digits in just 53% of the games prior to the move to 68% in the aftermath. Vassell’s production coincided with a run in which the Spurs won seven of nine games down the stretch to shockingly dispatch the decorated Lakers from the playoffs.
Undeniably a core player with San Antonio’s exciting young roster, Vassell will need to keep getting stronger physically and attain just a bit more offensive consistency to take advantage of his elevated ceiling. Vassell’s game is easy on the eyes, but the opportunities provided thus far have limited the appreciative audience to the truly savvy observers. That looks to be changing in the next year or two.
NBA Future Watch: Devin Vassell Basketball Cards, San Antonio Spurs – Stats
NBA Future Watch: Devin Vassell Basketball Cards, San Antonio Spurs – More Resources
- Secondary Market Pricing
- Beckett Card Catalog
- NBA.com Player Profile
- Devin Vassell – on Twitter
- Devin Vassell – on Instagram
- 2021-22 Donruss NBA Basketball Cards
- Panini Immaculate NBA Basketball Cards
- Panini Chronicles NBA Basketball Cards
- Panini Hoops NBA Basketball Cards
NBA Future Watch: Devin Vassell Basketball Cards, San Antonio Spurs – Image Gallery
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