2 undeniable concerns Devin Vassell must address to start the season

Most of the talk during the offseason has been about Victor Wembanyama. That's what happens when you're the face of the franchise and possess skills that nobody has seen before in a body his size. The secondary conversations have mostly surrounded either Chris Paul's addition to the team and what he can do for the guys, or what other moves need to be made to bring players in to elevate the roster.

But Devin Vassell is still a San Antonio Spurs player and the expectations for him are high coming into his fifth season. Last year, he showed fans he can be a 20-point-per-game scorer. He can take and make tough shots and have the occasional explosion, like the 36-point performance vs. the Lakers last December, one of six 30-plus point performances. This season, he can take a larger leap, but to do so, he'll need to take care of a couple things.

Vassell's needs to bring back his tough defense

When Vassell entered the league, he centered the majority of his focus on defense. At the time, Dejounte Murray and Derrick White were above him in the pecking order, and he took pride in his ability on that side of the floor. His first two seasons, Vassell's defensive rating was 112, which is usually good for anywhere between the top five and 10 range yearly in the NBA among shooting guards.

His rating the last two seasons has dipped to 120 in 2023 and 118 in 2024. The Spurs culture is built on defense first and with the metrics Vassell possesses at 6'5" with a 6'10" wingspan, he should be able to make his presence felt more often on that side of the floor. Hopefully, he comes out aggressively on that side of the ball, as it will raise his profile across the league. It's a simple math equation from there; the better Vassell is, the better the Spurs are.

He should attack the basket more this year

The scouting report is going to be out on Dev. He likes to pull up in the midrange and doesn't mind taking a contested shot. It's the perfect opportunity to add some extra hesitation moves and pump fakes to attack the paint more. Last season, the tough shot-maker shot 70% within five feet of the basket. He's a very strong finisher in the paint. This is especially true when you consider how often the Spurs' spacing was poor.

As the 28th-ranked three-point shooting team in the league, the paint was clogged often, but he found a way to finish anyway. Hopefully, the addition of Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes will help open up more room, and if Sochan and the rest of the young guys have improved their shooting, that's more space for Vassell to attack the paint. For the sake of comparison, Dev shot 215 shots from that area last season, falling well short of the 476 from Anthony Edwards from the same distance.

Their games, responsibilities and the way the teams operate are different, but that is still a massive gap. Nobody expects him to be Ant, but a little more aggression downhill will only benefit his game by giving him more free throw opportunities and keeping the defense on their heels.