Where Are Spurs on The Ringer's Top 125 NBA Players List?

Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson are San Antonio Spurs into their own in a tanking season hoped to pair them with a top-three talent in the 2023 NBA Draft.

It's no secret that the San Antonio Spurs highly covet the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, with good reason. Yet, they've managed to produce quality individual seasons from Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson which has garnered attention from the NBA media.

The Ringer updated their top 125 players list, and gave Vassell and Johnson placement among their bottom half of recognized players, saying: 

"No. 79 [Vassell] Prototypical 3-and-D prospect who’s been given an opportunity to spread his wings and do much more. 

No. 81 [Johnson] Talented young two-way player who’s adapting to a larger role in San Antonio’s rebuilding phase."

Both players were ranked close to one another. While Johnson leads San Antonio in scoring with 21.6 points per game and is fourth on the team with 4.9 rebounds per night, Vassell got the nod over his running mate. 

Reason being? Vassell shoots 38.5 percent from the three-point line on nearly identical volume numbers as Johnson. That places Vassell at No. 50 in the NBA in that department, among 450-plus players that have seen the floor on the year.

Vassell also owns a clean 3.5/1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio, while getting it done on the defensive end with 1.1 steals per contest. Vassell's efficiency and capabilities from downtown are complemented with relentless aggression and inside offense from Johnson.

The University of Kentucky product gets to the free throw line 5.2 times each game -- No. 37 in the league. He connects on 77 percent of his attempts at the charity stripe, giving him extra offense while putting opposing teams in foul trouble.

While Johnson may be bull-in-china-shop on occasion, he has learned under the tutelage of coach Gregg Popovich and his 10.7 points in the paint per game (No. 24 league wide) has him primed to bring variance to a team conforming to the outside shooting mold of the rest of the association.

Despite their poor team record, Vassell and Johnson ranked above proven veteran wings, the likes of RJ Barrett (No. 96, New York Knicks), Tobias Harris (No. 97, Philadelphia 76ers) and Dillon Brooks (No. 103, Memphis Grizzlies) -- all of which have proven themselves as fringe, if not bonafide 20-point-per-game scorers in their careers as well as key contributors on teams with legitimate championship aspirations.

The future is promising for the Spurs, and this summer figures to equip coach 'Pop' with a fully stocked young nucleus that can give him one more run before he retires.

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