3 Spurs players who have 30 games to prove they deserve a permanent roster spot

The San Antonio Spurs get a week to rest at a time when a break is the best thing for the bunch. This season has taken a slide, and it's not one of those fun waterpark slides. It's more like trying to climb a steep, rocky hill but slipping on a protruding rock, causing you to tumble hilariously like some sort of cartoon character.

After last night's loss to the defending champions, the All-Star break has arrived. There are 30 games left in the season, so the pressure to perform down the stretch is on. The goal to make the playoffs should still be the focus of this team, but they'll need their core guys to start playing better to make that happen. If they don't, it would be easy to see the front office parting ways with them.

Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle may be the only untouchable players on the roster, but not everyone is on the chopping block, so let's take a look at the players who are.

Charles Bassey

To be fair, Bassey isn't really what you could call a "core player," but he's worth a mention just because he's the only true big man under a real NBA contract right now. Unfortunately, injuries have continued to be a problem for the Nigerian big man. He's currently sidelined with a knee injury, and if he can't get back and show some value, I'd expect SA to move on from him.

Keldon Johnson

It's time to revisit KJ's long-term place on the Spurs bench. It's just not working out. His defense had shown slight improvements earlier in the year, but he's regressed into an outright bad defender once again. His contribution is supposed to be energy and scoring off the bench, and while that's valuable, it has it's limitations if the scoring never comes with an efficiency.

Johnson is sixth in the NBA in bench scoring, but he's also fourth in field goal attempts. He's shooting 45.2% FG—tied for the second-lowest since he entered the NBA— and a career-low 30.3% 3PT. He gets to the free throw line less than someone who attacks like he does, and his percentage from the charity stripe is also down (77.1%). If he doesn't turn it around, it's time to move on.

Devin Vassell

Dev is shooting the ball almost 14 times a game and averaging only 15.9 points. That's unacceptable for a player the Spurs had such high hopes for when they signed him to an extension. Like Keldon, the output would be less frustrating if the efficiency was higher. Vassell was on an upward trajectory that justified the signing at the time, but this is the second year in a row he's disappointed and it's worse this time around.

Devin's numbers have suffered across the board just like KJ's has, but it's more disappointing not just because of the contract but the flashes he's shown. He nearly averaged 20 points per game last year and shot 37% from deep. This season, he's shooting 43.7% FG and 35.4% 3PT.

He's getting more open looks this season than ever before with Chris Paul manipulating defensive coverages, Wemby's evolution, and now De'Aaron Fox's acquisition, but he still can't knock them down. It's hard to tell whether it's about his shooting mechanics or something else, but time is running out to prove he should be a member of the long-term plans in San Antonio.

Members of the media have long been pointing to this summer as the time when the Spurs will get more active. It does feel like an important crossroad. They'll have large sample sizes to judge their players on while entering a promising draft and an intriguing free agent market with money to spend. So these guys better shape up or risk being shipped out of Alamo City.