Stats definitively prove extremely harsh reality about Devin Vassell

The basketball gods seemed to be against the San Antonio Spurs from the start of the season. It seems like so long ago, but before Coach Popovich suffered a mild stroke in early November, Victor Wembanyama was playing poorly. He was expected to be rusty, and that was certainly the case. Devin Vassell missed the start of the season as well, so nothing was smooth from the very beginning.

But those are things that are not under their control. They couldn't control the crazy schedule or the constant injuries that befell the team. They can, however, manage their individual play, and there's no escaping the fact that Vassell has been a major disappointment this season. When digging into the numbers, it's worse than you realize, leaving only one conclusion for the team to make.

Spurs greatly overestimated Vassell and should trade him this summer

It's time to move on from the Dev. It sounds harsh, but the reality of the situation is that he hasn't lived up to expectations. The Spurs would be better off moving him now instead of continuing to hope that he turns into a borderline all-star. He's being paid like they believe he's capable of reaching that point, but he hasn't shown that fast enough.

He just went for 37 points last week. That was a career high for the Georgia native, but he's been in the league for five years. You would have hoped to see that sort of game from him a long time ago. Oklahoma City Thunder's young forward Jalen Williams has developed into one of the best young players in the league. That's what you wanted to see from Vassell.

Both players were drafted in the same range. Vassell was picked 11th in the first round (2020), and Williams was selected 12th (2022). OKC's young star was named to his first All-Star Game this season. He's also had a 41-point game, establishing a new career high this year. He's only in his third year.

Devin Vassell has missed significant time due to injury in the previous two seasons; he wasn't ready to start the year because of his offseason surgery, and now he's having one of his worst years across the board. The advanced stats don't do Dev any favors, either. The lineup data paints a picture only a loving mother would put up on the fridge.

The fifth-year guard has a negative net rating in two-man lineups with just about every player on the roster. He's shared the floor the most with Chris Paul (943 min), and they're a -2.3. His rating with Victor Wembanyama is -2.6, and it gets worse from there: -7.1 with De'Aaron Fox, -4.4 with Harrison Barnes, -11.9 with Julian Champagnie, -12 with Keldon Johnson, and -33.1 with Charles Bassey.

This free-agent class isn't packing that strong of a punch, so the trade market may be San Antonio's best route to improving the team outside of the draft. If they package Vassell with some of the picks they've accumulated, they should get a good player in return who can contribute immediately.