Vassell calls contract extension a ‘blessing’
Guard Devin Vassell can expect to see the bill slid his way the next time the team breaks bread together after he gained a five-year, $146 million contract extension from the Spurs.
“Dinner is on Dev for a couple of weeks,” point guard Tre Jones said.
Vassell agreed to his rookie scale extension as part of the 2020 draft class on Monday. The native of Suwanee, Ga., and the Spurs faced an Oct. 23 deadline to reach an agreement.
Had a deal not been struck, he would have became a restricted free agent next summer
“It’s a blessing,” Vassell said of his lucrative pact, the richest in franchise history.
“This is where I want to be. Now all I am trying to do is win, get championships, put some more banners up there. I am glad this organization has faith in me.”
The 11th overall pick in 2020 figures to be a key supporting cast member as the Spurs build around 7-foot-3 rookie Victor Wembanyama.
Thanks to his extension, Vassell became the first player to hold a news conference at the club’s new practice facility, the Victory Capital Performance Center, which hosted its first practice Tuesday.
Despite his moment in the spotlight, Vassell declined to take more than one question about his new deal.
“I don’t want this to just be about the contract,” he said. “I want to talk about the team.”
So he did, pointing out that the first practice at the new facility — a building he described as “great” — was filled with “energy.”
“We have a lot of young guys ready to compete,” he said. “We were going up and down. It’s fun.”
As will that next team meal be when Vassell picks up the check.
“I’m happy for him,” Jones said. “He earned it all. We came in together and we’ve been at it going into our fourth year. I texted him right away when I saw that yesterday.
I knew his phone would be blowing up, but I couldn’t be more happy for him.”
Summer work a key springboard
Tuesday marked the first day of training camp for the Spurs, but the truth is they’ve been in a go-hard mode for months.
“I feel like for us, training camp is just going to be another day,” forward Keldon Johnson said. “We’ve been going hard for more than half the summer.”
With the addition of Wembanyama, everyone in the franchise has received a massive jolt of adrenaline. That was apparent with the way the players scrimmaged during their informal summer workouts.
“It’s been competitive,” Johnson said. “We’ve been getting after each other and really just competing. This has been one of the best open gyms I’ve been a part of since I’ve been a San Antonio Spur.”
The result is the team opened camp with an edge that had coach Gregg Popovich beaming.
“What excites me is their attitude, their aggressiveness, the way they have worked all summer,” he said. “They have been physical and have demanding of each other and that attitude has been infectious.”
The players also emerged from the summer with a heightened sense of camaraderie after hanging out regularly off the court.
“We’ve been in San Antonio for so long,” forward Jeremy Sochan said. “We’ve had a bunch of different dinners, gone bowling, went to the Drake concert (in Austin in September). We have done a bunch of stuff that is really important to have as a team — let the egos go away and have fun. It’s been great.” Wembanyama agreed. “All of us have good relations,” he said. “We often have team dinners and team meetings. I’m really glad everything is happening the way it’s happening. I feel very lucky I’m in a good environment from every aspect.”
Wemby finds a mentor in Ginobili
Wembanyama has quickly bonded with team great Manu Ginobili.
In his role as special adviser to basketball operations, Ginobili has served as a tour guide for Wembanyama and other newcomers on field trips to several San Antonio cultural icons, including the Spanish Missions.
During those trips and in other settings, the two have chatted a “fair amount of times,” Wembanyama said.
Understandably, Ginobili has impressed Wembanyama with his skill as a conversationalist and unpretentious manner.
“When I talk to him, I don’t think, yeah, he’s a Spurs legend, that he’s been here, he’s won championships, because it’s so natural talking to him,” Wembanyama said. “He is always giving good advice. He is dedicated still to the team. We have been talking about how to sleep better. Yeah, he’s been giving me a fair amount of advice, but it’s always so natural.”