NEW YORK — Over the last four games, San Antonio Spurs' Devin Vassell's name was popping in and out of the injury report with left knee soreness.
He'd miss three of the team's last four games only playing versus the Nets on Jan. 2 logging 25 minutes and scoring 14 points.
After sitting out of the team's Wednesday night game versus the Knicks in Madison Square Garden, the Spurs announced Vassell will be out indefinitely undergoing an arthroscopic procedure in New York on his left knee on Jan. 11.
The team is under .500 without Vassell (4-5) this season and he is missed by his teammates.
"A leader on the court, a playmaker. Devin can really do it all," Keldon Johnson said. "We definitely miss Devin without a shadow of a doubt."
Prior to his upcoming surgery, Vassell was having a career year in several statistical categories.
He is averaging a career-high in points (19.4), field-goal makes (7.1) field goal attempts (15.9), three-point percentage (40%), assists (3.5), and steals (1.2) per game this season.
Those numbers reflect the hard work he put in the offseason with the team turning to him and Johnson as the new leaders of the team.
"During the summer he put in so much work I wish you guys could see it," Johnson said.
The team’s second-leading scorer was experiencing a huge season of growth in this third pro season.
He became the third Spur to make 100-plus threes in his first 100 games and is the only the second Spur in history to record 30-plus three-pointers and 30-plus steals in their first 30 career games, joining team great, Tony Parker.
"He's so amazing. I wish you guys could be around him for a day. He works so hard, takes care of his body, makes sure that he's prepared to come and perform for our team," Johnson said. "It sucks right now that he can't play, but I know he'll be ready."
When he'll return to the court is an open question. The team announced updates will be given when it is appropriate.
And even with Vassell not in uniform, Johnson says his teammate is making an impact on the squad from the sidelines.
"He's always analyzing the game," said Johnson. "Telling us what he sees. We value his opinion as a young leader of the team. Even though he's not playing, he's still out there with us. Without him being there on the court, he still puts his imprint on the game by coaching us up from what he sees on the sidelines."
A deeper dive into what the team will miss on the court is eye-opening.
According to Cleaning The Glass, Vassell leads the team in corner three-shot field goal percentage (52%), owns a 17.2% assist percentage for the team good for fifth on the Spurs, and owns the third-best steal percentage at 1.6%.
For team-veteran Josh Richardson, the team will miss Vassell's offensive contributions and his ability to make life easier for the team during games.
"Shot-making. I think that's one of his biggest things that he brings to the game," Richardson said. "He's aggressive on offense. He makes the game easier for the rest of us because he has a good gravity to him. The other team has to account for where he's at."
In the short term, losing Vassell will likely mean tougher games for the team to battle through and perhaps more games filed in the loss column.
However, in the long term, this is the right decision to fix his ailing knee considering he significantly factors into the franchise's rebuild moving forward.
"Whenever he is back with us, we will welcome him back with open arms," Johnson said.
Twitter: @KENS5, @JeffGSpursKENS5