The Spurs may have to navigate Monday night in Phoenix without one of their steadiest pieces.
Devin Vassell landed on the injury report with left adductor tightness and is listed as questionable for the first meeting of the season between San Antonio and the Suns. If he can’t go, Julian Champagnie looks like the most likely candidate to slide into the starting lineup.
San Antonio’s injury list also includes Maliq Brown, Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Tobias Harris and Jayden Quaintance, all listed as out. Brown and Gillespie are out on G League two-way assignments, while Harris is dealing with a left calf issue and Quaintance has a right knee injury.
Phoenix has its own absences to manage. Jordan Goodwin is questionable with a right calf injury, and Mark Williams is out with a left shoulder injury.
Vassell’s status matters because his early-season shooting slump had started to turn around. The Florida State product had been struggling from deep, but over the last two games he’s found some rhythm.
He went 5-for-6 from three against the Kings and 2-for-4 against the Trail Blazers. Before that stretch, he was sitting at a career-low 25.7% from beyond the arc.
That slow start covered only eight games, but in an 82-game season, that’s still a meaningful chunk of the calendar. The encouraging part for San Antonio is that the good shooting has started to outnumber the bad, even if the sample is still small.
If Vassell is sidelined, Champagnie is the cleanest replacement. He’s a reliable floor-spacer who fits easily next to his teammates, and he’s already started at the four for this group. San Antonio even went to the NBA Finals with him in that role, so there wouldn’t be much of a drop-off in terms of comfort or structure.
Champagnie has been knocking down 42.9% of his threes this season, which trails only Harrison Barnes on the roster. Some fans had expected him to be in the starting mix alongside Victor Wembanyama and the three-guard lineup before Mitch Johnson announced that Vassell would handle the power forward spot.
There’s also a case for Carter Bryant to get a longer look if Vassell sits. Spurs fans have been pushing for more Bryant minutes, and an early opportunity Monday would make sense. If he keeps hitting shots the way he did against the Trail Blazers, Johnson’s confidence in him could grow quickly.
The Spurs and Suns tip off at 8:00 p.m. CT at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix.
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