Depressing Jeremy Sochan's injury update keeps Spurs in uphill battle

Not the injury update Spurs fans were hoping for. Jeremy Sochan left in the second quarter of San Antonio's last game against the LA Clippers and never returned to the floor. The Polish Prince has been just as important to the Silver and Black's defensive leap as anything else, but now he'll be sidelined as he rehabs from surgery on his left thumb.

There is no current timetable for the return of The Destroyer, but any time missed is crucial for the Spurs. They lost a 26-point lead in Los Angeles last night, leading to a nine-point loss and it's hard to believe that happens if their best defender remains on the floor. Now, more than before, San Antonio needs their reinforcements to come through like the Avengers in End Game.

Spurs can weather the storm when Vassell returns

Dealing with the absence of Devin Vassell was bad enough for a team coming from the bottom of the conference, but when Tre Jones went down after game one, it felt like the basketball gods were against Alamo City.

Coach Popovich is now dealing with a health issue that nobody knows the full details of, but when you're a 75-year-old man, everyone is going to be nervous about it. He's one of the most beloved coaches in the history of sports.

Now that a Devin Vassell return-to-action announcement is expected any day now, Sochan goes down. Some fans are already punting on the season, declaring the season over. Their belief is the focus should be shifted to the draft, tanking for the chance to draft elite talent such as the highly-touted prospect from Duke, Cooper Flagg.

I'm here to tell you to cool your jets. Those of you with this line of thinking are putting the cart before the horse, and you need to slow down. San Antonio is 3-4 in a conference where every team seeded 4-9 has a record of 4-3. There was a lot of parity in the league last year, and it seems like that will be the case once again. That leaves plenty of room for teams to rise and fall, giving the Spurs a shot.

When Devin Vassell returns, you can slide Harrison Barnes to the power forward position. He's played in that spot for several years, so he has the experience to get it down. He may not be the defender Sochan is, but he's a 40% three-point shooter compared to Jeremy's 25%.

If the Silver and Black roll out a lineup of Chris Paul, Devin Vassell, Julian Champagnie, Barnes, and Victor Wembanyama, they'll have the best shooting lineup on the floor they've had in years. The offensive floor rises significantly with those guys playing together.

The defense will take a hit, but with discipline and effort, they can tread water in that area until Sochan returns. Devin Vassell is not an inconsequential addition to this roster. He'll make an impact, and Spurs fans should be looking forward to that.