Spurs go down to the wire for Florida State’s Vassell - Houston Chronicle

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SAN ANTONIO — The Spurs’ newest draft pick has a word of advice about the Twitter video that circulated around the NBA scouting world in the lead-up to Wednesday’s NBA draft.

Looks can be deceiving.

“I haven’t changed my jump shot,” said Devin Vassell, the 20-year-old shooting guard/small forward from Florida State the Spurs tabbed with the No. 11 overall pick. “I’ve never attempted to change my jump shot. I won’t change it, because I’ve had a lot of success with the jump shot I have right now.”

A workout video purported to be of Vassell tweaking his form was briefly the buzz among draft watchers from coast-to-coast earlier this month.

To the untrained eye, it appeared Vassell was firing up deep jumpers with the ball cocked behind his head, feet out of balance and elbows askew — the mechanics of every shooting coach’s nightmares.

With draft intel limited this year due to the COVID-19 crisis, the video became to NBA scouts what the Zapruder film once was to the Warren Commission.

“I think it was because of the angle they took it from,” Vassell said. “They made it seem like I caught the ball over my head a lot further than I do.”

The Spurs were pleased enough with Vassell’s old form — which might be the same as his new form — to make him the franchise’s first lottery draft pick since 1997, when Tim Duncan went first overall.

The selection stopped the longest drought without a lottery pick in NBA history. In Vassell, the Spurs hope they have a player who can help keep them out of future lotteries — and restart the playoff streak they snapped with last season’s 32-39 finish.

A 6-foot-7 forward with a wingspan of nearly 7 feet, Vassell was billed as one of the top perimeter defenders in the draft.

He averaged 12.7 points and 5.1 rebounds for Florida State as a sophomore and ranked near the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference charts in blocks and steals.

The buzz word with Vassell is versatility. He fits in with the Spurs’ crop of young wings who can switch onto multiple players and defend multiple positions.

A late bloomer who chose the Seminoles over offers from Texas Tech, North Florida and Stetson out of Peachtree High School in Suwanee, Ga., Vassell built himself into an unexpected lottery pick.

He harbors no illusions about how he will earn his NBA paycheck as a rookie.

“For me, I just bring defense,” Vassell said. “I bring energy and effort. At the position I play, I get a lot of rebounds. I get on the glass. I try to get all the loose balls. I just play with tremendous energy and try to make it contagious for others.”

Lost in the “did he or didn’t he?” conversations around Vassell’s revamped (or not) shooting form: He shot 41.7 percent on a combined 168 3-point attempts over two college seasons.

“I figure there’s no reason to change my jump shot at all,” Vassell said.

Vassell’s selection came at the end of a busy day in which the Spurs, who NBA observers said had been uncharacteristically aggressive in looking to possibly trade up in the draft order.

In the end that chatter turned out to be whispers and innuendo, signifying nothing.

The Spurs — who have not executed a draft day trade since the 2011 deal that brought Kawhi Leonard from Indiana — stayed at the No. 11 spot to select Vassell.

With several other quality prospects still on the board — including Iowa State point guard Tyrese Haliburton, Villanova forward Sadiq Bey and Vanderbilt shooting guard Aaron Nesmith — it took the Spurs down to the waning seconds of their allotted five minutes to pull the trigger on Vassell.

“It was definitely crazy,” Vassell said. “My heart was pounding. I was nervous. My feet were all sweaty. To hear my name get called, it was unimaginable.”

If Vassell can continue to shoot at the clip he made at Florida State, he projects as an intriguing “3-and-D” prospect that should mesh with the collection of young guard prospects the Spurs have been collecting in recent drafts.

Like Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, Lonnie Walker IV and Keldon Johnson, Vassell brings a flexibility to the Spurs on the defensive end — but with more size than any of those players.

Before the draft, Spurs general manager Brian Wright described the team’s approach to evaluating prospects this way:

“Versatility is important,” Wright said.

Vassell believes he fits that bill.

“I’ve been tested a lot,” Vassell said. “I was never given that star position. I’ve been able to mold and fit to whatever I need to.”

Wednesday’s draft — conducted in the midst of a pandemic — was itself a picture of flexibility.

It was conducted virtually from the ESPN campus in Connecticut, with NBA commissioner Adam Silver on hand to announce the picks in-studio.

Draftees were informed and interviewed via Zoom links from locations across the country — and in the case of Israel’s Deni Avdija, taken by Washington ninth overall — across the globe.

Minnesota kicked off draft night by making Georgia guard Anthony Edwards the No. 1 overall selection.

Vassell was one of a pair of Florida State players drafted with lottery picks, joining former Seminoles teammate Patrick Williams, who went fourth to Chicago. As such, Vassell stands to have a least one fan on the Bulls this season.

“It’s been amazing to see his growth,” Williams said. “I’m so happy for him. I’ve seen how hard he works from day one. I’m super excited for him.”

Vassell watched the draft with family in Braselton, Ga., a nearby Atlanta suburb. Headed soon to San Antonio, he is eager to demonstrate another lesson for Spurs fans:

Seeing is believing.

“A lot of people doubted me, said this or that,” Vassell said. “I always knew the hard work I was putting in. It was a lot of hard work and dedication.”

jmcdonald@express-news.net

twitter.com/jmcdonald_saen

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