'Young Vet': Devin Vassell Ready to Be 'Huge' Leader for Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs will need every bit of Devin Vassell that they can get this season.

It happened suddenly this offseason and now, there's no avoiding it. 

At age 22, Devin Vassell is somehow now a veteran leader for the San Antonio Spurs, and even he admitted during the team's media day on Monday that it felt weird at first. 

So when did it finally hit him?

"When they said they was born in 2004 or something like that," Vassell said with a laugh. 

Vassell is now suddenly the eighth-youngest player on the roster after the Spurs added five guys age 20 or younger over the offseason, including the three first-round picks of Jeremy Sochan, Malaki Branham, and Blake Wesley. 

"I'm just trying to be there, trying to be a young vet I guess you could say, helping them out with just little stuff," Vassell said. "Like I said, they're oozing with potential and I can't wait to play with them."

Vassell was already fixing to step into a major role this season as arguably one of the best scorers on the team. Last year, he averaged 12.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.1 steals in 71 games. 

Now, regardless of the sudden shock of reality, he's ready to command a similar role as a leader.

"We're coming into a - me especially - coming into a bigger leadership role this year," he said. "We got a lot of young guys, got a lot of new guys, just gotta try and help them out. Especially on me, I feel like it's a big year for me to step up my leadership role. It's huge for me." 

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Monday that the goal of this season is giving the team and the players the best possible chance at future success, even going as far to say that betting on the Spurs to bring home a sixth title might be a waste of time. 

Similarly, though not as blunt, Vassell isn't focused on the standings either. Growth seems to be a common theme shared by player and coach. 

"I'm not looking at wins and losses, I can't predict that," Vassell said. "At the end of the day, I just want to make sure that we're growing each game, developing each game, maturing."

Still, he's not shying away from the confidence he has in a group that certainly has talent. 

"It's a young group and I'm excited for us, I think that we can surprise a lot of people. I think that as long as we play together and we play the right way that we'll have a chance to win every game. We still got the greatest coach of all time sitting back there."

And for the Spurs to be a surprise this season, they'll need Vassell to continue to grow into the leader, player, and example-setter that he's proven capable of becoming. 

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You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7

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