Spurs' honest take on finishing season without Victor Wembanyama, De'Aaron Fox
Yesterday at 12:25 AM
While the San Antonio Spurs have been without Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox since March 13, it’s a reality that may be hitting hardest a couple of weeks later. Over the span of 11 days, the Silver and Black have seven games against some of the top teams in the NBA, all without their two best players.
That a three-game winning streak stopped when this stretch started shouldn’t stun anyone. Frankly, that they’ve lost the first four games of this gauntlet shouldn’t surprise.
Asked about the forthcoming stretch, Devin Vassell admitted it’s going to be tough, especially without Wemby and Fox on the court.
“It’s tough,” Devin Vassell admitted. “They create so much for us.”
Before blood clots in his right shoulder ended his season in mid-February, Wemby was enjoying a better season than his historic Rookie of the Year campaign. His nightly averages of 24 points, 11 rebounds, and 3.8 blocks – a stat in which he still leads the league despite not having played in a month and a half – earned the 7-foot-phenom a first All-Star nod. Fox, a 25-point-per-game scorer for the better part of the last five seasons, was getting 20 per contest in adjusting to San Antonio before his season ended in early March.
“Both of them impact the game on both ends of the floor,” Vassell shared. “Vic easily could win Defensive Player of the Year this year, and the numbers that he had on the offensive end, the amount of people that he creates for and people have to double team him. Same thing with De’Aaron.
Different Spurs are trying to pick up slack
Without their two leading scorers, Vasell has tried to fill that void. Already the Spurs’ third leading scorer this year before the injuries to Wemby and Fox, the former Florida State star, unsurprisingly, has led the team in that category. He’s ranked second in the previous two seasons.
“It’s been next man up,” the 11th overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft said.
It’s a sentiment with which Chris Paul agrees. Both the future Hall of Fame point guard and Vassell singled out players who are trying to pick up the slack.
“Learning different guys. Blake [Wesley], obviously, has been playing a lot more,” Paul stated. “He’s been looking for good for us. Mamu [Sandro Mamukelashvili] and whatnot. It’s been an adjustment.”
One of the Spurs’ three first-round picks in 2023, Wesley was in and out of the rotation last season before spending more than half of this year on the bench. Similarly, the 6-foot-9 Mamukelashvili has found more minutes over the last several weeks.
“Whoever it’s been, whether it’s been Ju [Julian Champagnie], whether it’s been Steph [Stephon Castle] stepping up, J [Jeremy Sochan], me, C.P. [Chris Paul],” Vassell added about players who’ve taken more of the load.
Though the Spurs aren’t mathematically eliminated from Play-in contention in the Western Conference, all signs – including the decision regarding Fox’s surgery – point to the long-term future.
“It doesn’t matter who it is; everyone is ready to take that next step up. That’s what we’ve been doing,” Vassell concluded.
That next step is key. Because as the off-season looms, it could have multiple meanings for the Spurs.
The post Spurs’ honest take on finishing season without Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox appeared first on ClutchPoints.
