Spurs' Gregg Popovich: Devin Vassell Likely 'Out for a While' with Groin Injury

There was some bad news for the San Antonio Spurs coming out of Thursday's 132-121 win over the Phoenix Suns.

Head coach Gregg Popovich told reporters after the game that Devin Vassell will likely be "out for a while" after leaving in the first half with a groin injury.

Popovich did note there was a moment when he had Vassell warm up to see if he could go back in the game.

"The groin is one of those things where it can take a while, and he wasn't sure he thought he could play," Popovich said. "But I told him go out there and warm it up and to be honest with me if it loosened up, how it felt, and he said he just couldn't go on it."

There wasn't an obvious moment when the injury occurred. Cedi Osman replaced Vassell with 1:05 remaining in the first half coming out of a timeout. Vassell and Tre Jones were seen walking to the locker room before the end of the second quarter.

The injury ruined what started out as a fantastic game for Vassell. He scored 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field in 17 minutes.

San Antonio was able to keep playing at a high level after Vassell was removed. Victor Wembanyama had the best game of his young career with 38 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.

The Spurs made a big bet on Vassell as a key player next to Wembanyama. They signed him to a five-year, $135 million extension before the start of the season. He was coming off a 2022-23 campaign in which he averaged 18.5 points per game, but was limited to 38 games due to a knee injury.

Through the first five games this season, Vassell seemed to have taken a step forward. The 23-year-old is averaging a career-high 19.4 points per game and is shooting 53.7 percent from the field (40.7 percent from three-point range).

If Vassell has to miss an extended period of time, the Spurs will likely rely on a rotation of Osman and Malaki Branham to replace his production.