Victor Wembanyama out for season: Impact on Spurs, future
One by one, the San Antonio Spurs strolled into the Moody Center on Thursday afternoon for a shootaround, minutes after the Phoenix Suns left the floor.
One notable absence stood out: generational superstar Victor Wembanyama, who didn’t accompany the team to Austin for its two-game set against the Suns and Detroit Pistons. As the team warmed up on the floor, San Antonio’ brass geared up behind the scenes to drop a bombshell announcement that Wembanyama would likely miss the rest of the 2024-25 regular season due to deep thrombosis in his right shoulder.
When Wembanyama last spoke on Sunday night in San Francisco to close out NBA All-Star weekend, he discussed wanting to “forget a little bit about basketball for 48 hours.”
Over that span, he received the diagnosis.
“[It’s] tough more than anything for all of us, knowing how much he means to our team,” point guard Chris Paul said. “But more so knowing how much he means to the game and how much he loves to play.”
The first-time All-Star was named the unanimous Rookie of the Year last season and finished as a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year. He was the favorite to take home the defensive award this season, leading the league with 3.8 blocks per game.
Just last month, Wembanyama played a pair of games in his native France, and both contests sold out within 24 hours, the NBA announced, and fans from 53 countries and territories purchased tickets — a record for any NBA event.
In just his second season, Wembanyama was rising to global superstar status. On Saturday, Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards was asked if he saw himself as a future face of the NBA when the current generation retires.
“No, not really,” the three-time All-Star said. “That’s what they’ve got Wemby for.”
But instead Wembanyama will miss the final 30 games of the regular season. San Antonio hoped to seriously make a push for a berth in the play-in tournament, especially after trading for speedy guard De’Aaron Fox. Instead, the Spurs’ season sits in limbo with their best player out and razor-thin depth in the frontcourt.
Our NBA insiders break down the rest of what this news means for Wembanyama, the Spurs and the rest of the NBA.
What can we expect from the Spurs for the rest of the season?
The Spurs’ season is over if San Antonio’s best player is unavailable. The Spurs’ playoff drought is likely to extend to six seasons, after they’d missed the postseason just four times previously since joining the NBA in 1976-77, and never in back-to-back seasons.
Wembanyama draws so much attention that few noticed in recent weeks the shocking lack of depth for the Spurs in the frontcourt. It’s a situation that worsened when the team had to move Zach Collins in the trade for De’Aaron Fox. Charles Bassey served as the No. 2 center on the roster behind Wembanyama, but he suffered a sprained left MCL on Feb. 3.
The Spurs signed Bismack Biyombo to a 10-day contract for depth, and it’s likely he’ll end up with a standard contract in the coming days. The Spurs spent a good portion of the All-Star break internally studying which rotations and combinations of players would work best as they prepared for the stretch run of the season looking to make a run at a play-in spot. Obviously, those combinations heavily involved Wembanyama and new addition Fox. The Spurs currently rank No. 11 in the league in rebounding with Wembanyama averaging 11 per game. Expect that number to dip sharply. — Michael C. Wright
What does this mean for Wembanyama’s future?
There have been a number of high-profile athletes, including numerous basketball players, who have been diagnosed with blood clots and were able to proceed with great careers. When a blood clot is diagnosed, two things become important: first, you must get on anticoagulant medication immediately to prevent more clotting and mitigate the risk of a clot traveling to your heart or lungs. This medication is typically needed for around six months and comes with a restriction on certain activities, including contact sports. That is why it is known today that Wembanyama will be out for the rest of the season.
Second, there is a need to try to identify the cause of the clot. In Wembanyama’s case, the Spurs have announced the clot was discovered in his shoulder. Most often clots develop in the lower legs. Sometimes young athletes can develop a clot in their arms or shoulders as a result of repetitive motion. This was the case in 2019 with Brandon Ingram with the New Orleans Pelicans. Ingram was diagnosed that March, missed the rest of the season and was cleared to play by opening night of the following season. The Spurs are optimistic Wembanyama will make a full recovery by the beginning of next season, a team source told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
Last March, Ausar Thompson of the Detroit Pistons was diagnosed with a blood clot in his leg. He missed the rest of the season and was cleared to return to play last November. Ingram, Thompson and, eventually, Wembanyama, will have to be cleared by the NBA’s Fitness to Play Panel, which is made up of three doctors who review the individual case. — Brian Windhorst
How does this affect Wembanayma’s contract and the Spurs’ free agency plans?
After this season, Wembanyama has two years and $26.1 million remaining on the rookie scale contract he signed after being drafted in 2023. And, despite the season-ending injury, his $16.9 million team option for 2026-27 is expected to get exercised prior to Oct. 31.
Starting in the 2026 offseason, Wembanyama will be eligible to sign a five-year, $271 million rookie extension, the first year of which would start in 2027-28. If Wembanyama is named MVP, Defensive Player of the Year or to one of the three All-NBA teams in 2026-27, the extension would increase to $326 million.
Despite uncertainty around the injury, look for the Spurs to continue building around their generational star this summer. San Antonio chose to accelerate their rebuild at the trade deadline, acquiring Fox in a move designed to help the franchise contend for the postseason now, as well as push open a title-contending window.
“It just shows that they’re not here to waste time,” Wembanyama said after the Fox trade. “We’re moving forward. I think it’s a good step in the building of our future.”
Besides the health of Wembanyama, the focus in the offseason is signing Fox to an extension. Fox is eligible starting on Aug. 3 to sign a four-year, $229 million extension. The Spurs could also add two lottery picks in June; their own and Atlanta’s. Currently, San Antonio has a 3% chance to land the top pick. — Bobby Marks
What does this mean for the Spurs’ guard trio?
There was an expectation the Spurs would have to make a decision about whether to ask Chris Paul to come off the bench so that Fox and Castle could start in the backcourt. But it was already unlikely the Spurs would make that move out of deference for Paul, a future Hall of Famer, not to mention the fact the club had already promised him before he arrived in San Antonio that he’d start this season.
Now the Spurs are in a situation where they need to put their best players on the floor to make a push for the play-in tournament. That means there’s a good chance we’ll see plenty of Paul, Fox and Castle on the floor together for significant stretches. The truth is the Spurs don’t have many great answers at this point, but they’ve already spent a big part of the season playing small with Wembanyama as the only big on the floor. So, this isn’t necessarily uncharted territory. — Wright
What does this mean for the Spurs’ play-in — or lottery — hopes?
At 23-29, San Antonio’s realistic play-in hopes had already begun to fade. The Spurs are not only 3.5 games back of the 10th spot in the Western Conference but would also need to pass the Phoenix Suns and hold off the Portland Trail Blazers, who are equally close in the standings in 13th.
Without Wembanyama, that kind of run surely isn’t in the cards. Instead, the more interesting question now might be how high San Antonio can get in the lottery standings. The Spurs would enter the lottery in the 10th spot if the season ended today, the same position from which the Atlanta Hawks jumped up to No. 1 last year.
San Antonio and Portland are both sitting on 23 wins, albeit with three more games remaining for the Spurs than the Blazers, while the Chicago Bulls are eighth at 22-33. Moving to eighth in the lottery would double San Antonio’s chances of landing the No. 1 pick, not counting the more remote possibility of the Hawks (currently No. 12) moving up with a pick that the Spurs own outright.
The draft is sure to offer San Antonio more prospects to add to their core, but with a little more lottery luck, the Spurs might land another player with star potential to pair with Wembanyama and Fox. — Kevin Pelton
What is the impact on the NBA’s award races?
Before Thursday, Wembanyama was the overwhelming favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year, for which he would have become the youngest winner in league history. But his injury means he won’t reach the 65-game minimum to qualify for postseason awards, and the new favorite in his stead is much less clear.
As Pelton noted this week, the DPOY has come from a top-five defense every season since 2006-07. But the top five teams in defensive rating this season — the Thunder, Clippers, Magic, Rockets and Celtics — are all so strong because of a collective team effort rather than one particular standout stopper.
Now Jaren Jackson Jr. — leader of the seventh-ranked Grizzlies defense — has a chance to claim his second DPOY trophy, and Evan Mobley — leader of the eighth-ranked Cavaliers defense — has a chance to win his first. Mobley’s not as young as Wembanyama, but he would still tie for the youngest DPOY winner ever.
There are significant financial incentives if Jackson or Mobley win DPOY. Jackson would become eligible to sign a five-year, $345 million supermax, while the rookie extension that Mobley signed last offseason would increase from $224 to $269 million.
Big men typically lead the DPOY race, but other potential candidates in Wembanyama’s absence come from lower on the positional spectrum. Hawks guard Dyson Daniels is on the verge of becoming the first player since Alvin Robertson in 1990-91 to average three steals per game. Amen Thompson (1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks per game) is creating havoc on a nightly basis for the Rockets. And Luguentz Dort takes on the toughest defensive assignments for the Thunder, who might finish the season with the best era-adjusted defensive rating in NBA history; his case looks a lot like Marcus Smart’s when the former Celtics guard won in 2021-22.
The injury also robs Wembanyama of a near-guaranteed spot on an All-NBA team this spring and a legitimate shot at a First Team nod. He had a chance to join Luka Doncic, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Tim Duncan and Rick Barry as the only players in NBA history to be First Teamers in their age-21 season; now he’ll have to wait another year to match those legends. — Zach Kram
How does this impact your fantasy basketball team?
Wembanyama was the clear centerpiece of the Spurs’ production at both ends of the court, leading the team with 24.3 PPG and 11.0 RPG, and leading the NBA with 3.8 BPG. With Wembanyama out, either 6-foot-8 Jeremy Sochan or 25-year old journeyman Sandro Mamukeleshvilli move to the top of the center depth chart. Sochan has the higher upside, and has been a regular starter at various positions in his three-year NBA career. As a small-ball starting center, he would have nightly double-double potential with upside for positive contributions in assists and about a steal and a 3-pointer per game. If named the starter, Sochan would be worthy of fantasy hoops flex consideration.
The Spurs’ offense would presumably move more through their backcourt, with Fox fully capable of returning to the type of usage that had him average a career-best 26.6 PPG last season.
It would also make sense for the Spurs, already 12th in the Western Conference and now less likely to make a run to the play-in, to lean more on their younger players than their veterans moving forward.
This would mean boosts to the fantasy status of Castle and 24-year old Devin Vassell on the wing, and perhaps a step backward for Paul and 32-year-old Harrison Barnes.
Fox is already an impact fantasy hoops producer, but both Vassell and Castle could solidify themselves as full-time flex starters with potentially increased roles. — Andre Snellings
What about betting?
Wembanyama was the runaway favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year this season, listed at -2000 on ESPN BET prior to the injury announcement.
The field for this award is now led by Jackson, who moved from +2500 this morning to -130 and Mobley, who moved from +3000 to +110, clear favorites over Daniels (+1800) and Dort (+2000). Wembanyama will no longer be eligible for the award since he won’t meet the 65-game minimum requirement.
The other major player award impacted by Wembanyama’s injury is Rookie of the Year. Castle, Wembanyama’s teammate, entered the day as the favorite to win the award at +110. But with his expected increase in usage, Castle is now the odds-on favorite (-180). — Snellings
Source: espn.com