Spurs injuries no laughing matter on April Fool's Day; Sochan summer in jeopardy

With seven games left on the season for the San Antonio Spurs, many fans were hoping to see the young core get hot late and find a few more wins before going into the offseason to gain a much-needed morale boost in order to start putting the puzzle together and become competitive in the 2024–25 season.

It looked like they were doing just that, picking up three consecutive wins over the Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, and New York Knicks. In the matchup with New York, Jeremy Sochan would get injured and not return in the second half. Going into Sunday's clash with the Golden State Warriors, Devin Vassell, initially believed to be available, was downgraded to out with left foot soreness alongside Sochan, who was later diagnosed with an ankle impingement.

There weren't many answers about the significance of these injuries, including Pop responding with "I have no idea" regarding Sochan's injury. Well, fans now know what the status of these injuries is, and Spurs fans' hearts all sank in unison when the news was released.

Sochan and Vassell will miss the rest of the season.

You can never believe anything you read on the internet when it comes to April Fools Day, but it was no laughing matter when NBA insider Shams Charania announced that Devin Vassell would miss the remaining games with a stress reaction in his foot and Jeremy Sochan would miss the rest of the season with an ankle impingement that will require surgery to repair.

Both will miss the final stretch of the regular season, shooting down any chances at gaining momentum heading into the summer. The two were both averaging career highs in points, with Vassell putting up 19.5 on the year and Jeremy with 11.6.

Sochan may miss the Olympics

Not even a week after expressing his desire to represent his home country of Poland in the Olympics, Sochan received the diagnosis of his ankle impingement and, more importantly, that it would require surgery to be repaired.

After scoring 26 points and grabbing a career-high eighteen rebounds, the Polish native said in his press conference "I want to play in the Olympics." Sochan went on to say, "I've played every game this season; knock on wood, I finish it," and that he'll "be ready for qualifiers." Such a devastating blow to the 20-year-old, who had high aspirations to compete on a global stage.

It's gut-wrenching that this is how the season ends for some of San Antonio's biggest names, who were putting on such a bright display of talent and upside, hinting at what may be to come in the future with these two next to Victor at the helm.

While it's unfortunate that they will miss the rest of the season, it gives Coach Pop and his staff a short sample size of games to evaluate the rest of the roster and start thinking about what moves need to be made in the draft and free agency.