Woj: Vassell 5/$146M extension

[Dejounte]

With Vassell featured more, it lessens Keldon’s responsibility to create his own shots. With less attention on Keldon, he’s in a position to excel more and thrive on open shot opportunities. I think those two complement each other well and if Keldon really is improved on defense, then this will be a good year.

[Mugen]

What's with the hometown discount talk? No young guy should ever take a discount on their first big NBA contract. And especially not for a team that won 22 games the year prior

[td4mvp2k]

good to see him back for the future but they must think he will continue to improve with this deal otherwise if he has a season like he did last it will be an overpay and it wouldnt be the first time this front office has done so.

[exstatic]

I’m not mad at this. Not everyone takes a team discount but he better start consistently playing on the other side of the ball to justify this.

He took a $50M team discount.

[Mr. Body]

What's with the hometown discount talk? No young guy should ever take a discount on their first big NBA contract. And especially not for a team that won 22 games the year prior

It's seriously unlikely that Devin Vassell will ever improve again.

[couchman]

This tells me the team believes the knee issue is behind him.
Vassell also said during his media day that his knee feels great and he seemed genuinely unconcerned about it.
If healthy then Vassell is likely our leading scorer this year.

[MI21]

Excellent, 5/$135M with no options for a young, clear starter quality player with potential is perfectly fine.

[daslicer]

In my eyes his ceiling is Allan Houston. If he can become Allan Houston, then this is a good deal. If he doesn't reach that level, then this is a overpay.

[Ariel]

He took a $50M team discount.

No he didn't. His current deal is over what I expected but FAIR under the cir stances. $50M more would have been INSANE, he might (hopefully) prove himself worth that much eventually, but certainly didn't do so thus far.

[EricB]

And, as was also pointed out and discussed in the context of Tyler Herro (and Austin Reaves!), a deal like this does not preclude the Spurs from adding a max player while Wemby is on his rookie deal or his (assumed) max rookie extension.

still projected to have 50-60 million in cap space this summer.

so yeah they can add.

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

A bit on the high end, but the fact they're doing it now, instead of waiting for next summer and using the lower cap hold, shows they believe he could be worth significantly more, which is reassuring as their talent evaluation is generally spot on.

Great that there are incentives and no options for the full 5 years. With the rising cap by year 3/4 this deal will look even better. Looks like the actual numbers would be around : 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, add a couple of mil of incentives for each year.

[illusioNtEk]

With all the pressure being on Wemby for the next 20+ years... this is a solid deal for him. Great job to the Spurs Brass!

[John B]

This tells me the team believes the knee issue is behind him.
Vassell also said during his media day that his knee feels great and he seemed genuinely unconcerned about it.
If healthy then Vassell is likely our leading scorer this year.

I think he got hurt but was over exaggerated the extent for obvious reason to tank

[Proxy]

TD was woj on this one, spurraider was shams

kinda like how users on reddit post a ty highlight with no replays just so they reap the karma first

[Proxy]

I’d rather have Austin Reaves. Cheap ass Jeanie wasn’t matching anything

[Bruno]

First and obvious reaction is: that's a lot of money.

To me, a key to understand it is the new TV deal that will start in 2025. NBA is said to look at more than the double of their current deal and if they succeed at getting that, the cap will raise by 10% each year for the foreseeable future. I wonder how sure a team like Spurs are we will be in that scenario?

For reference the cap is at $136M and the luxury tax is at $165M this year. In 2028-2029, which will be the last year of Vassell new contract, the cap might be at $219M and the luxury tax at $266M. In that scenario, a player paid around $30M per year has a lot less impact on the flexibility of a team.

[Mr. Body]

I'm old enough to remember users freaking out that Jakob Poeltl's contact was too high. Turned out to be an huge bargain.

[tbdog]

I've always maintained that vassell could be pacers Paul George. Very similar game. But 2 inches shorter.

[Dejounte]

I've always maintained that vassell could be pacers Paul George. Very similar game. But 2 inches shorter.

Nothing alike, imo. Vassell is nowhere near as explosive, doesnt have the same passing ability, and weaker ball handling

[mudyez]

More like a Kris Middleton with a little better defensive potential (in a good case scenario).

[Mr. Body]

Nothing alike, imo. Vassell is nowhere near as explosive, doesnt have the same passing ability, and weaker ball handling

It took a few years for Paul George to become Paul George. But I agree - they're not the same mold to me. George is clearly a strong SF while Vassell is a lanky SG.

[Dejounte]

The biggest concern to me is that if he sticks to his shot creating role, that he bogs down the offense with his high tendency to look for his midrange pull up jumper. Sometimes he looks like DeMar out there with the way the ball sticks and he’s handling it for too long or looking for his own shot too much. Pop is right, if his increased strength leads to more free throws then none of what I said is an issue.

[Dejounte]

i see similarities here also. If Rip played in this era, maybe it would be exactly like Devin Vassell. Rip barely shot threes back then, while Devin shoots a lot of them

[Mr. Body]

i see similarities here also. If Rip played in this era, maybe it would be exactly like Devin Vassell. Rip barely shot threes back then, while Devin shoots a lot of them

I see Rip Hamilton in Malaki's curls into the lane.

[CGD]

I see Rip Hamilton in Malaki's curls into the lane.

That would be something. Malaki had a long way to go though.