2 obvious and 1 subtle thing Devin Vassell must do to become an all-star

The all-star game is nearly here, but the San Antonio Spurs are again without a representative for the second straight season. That will surely change once Rookie of the Year frontrunner Victor Wembanyama finds his footing in the NBA, but the Spurs have another player with all-star potential, Devin Vassell.

Vassell signed a 5-year extension last summer, suggesting that the Spurs have plenty of faith in him and he has mostly lived up to expectations thus far. However, for him to make the next step into stardom, he will need to improve upon three key things.

Obvious thing: Getting easier shots

Ever since NBA legend Charles Barkley criticized Vassell for his shot selection, it's hard not to notice that he has a tendency to take tough shots. To his credit, he is quite good at hitting those shots, but it stands to reason that he would be even better if he were able to generate easier looks.

Some of that is on him, his offensive aggressiveness, and his lack of selectiveness. He isn't afraid to launch a contested three or a pull-up jumper. Actually, according to NBA.com, 7.6 of 14.9 field goal attempts per game are tightly or very tightly contested, though shooting an impressive 47% on those attempts.

However, it seems clear that he has been given the green light to look for his shot, especially from outside, where the Spurs have often lagged behind the rest of the league. It's not a coincidence that Vassell leads the team in 3-point attempts per game for the third straight season, and getting up so many threes means a quick trigger.

However, now that Wembanyama is playing center and Sochan's shooting has improved, the Spurs don't have the same issues and are now 11th in 3-point attempts. That means they can afford to have Vassell be more selective when shooting from outside and focus more on shots in the paint.

Through the team's first 53 games, he has only attempted 25.8% of his shots inside 10 feet but is shooting a blistering 68% on those attempts. Moreover, he's shooting 74.3% on shots inside of 3 feet but only attempts 2.2 shots at the basket a game. Changing up his shot selection could both boost his efficiency further and help him take the next step on offense.