MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE – FEBRUARY 03: Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs goes to the basket … [+] against Jaren Jackson Jr. #13 of the Memphis Grizzlies during the first half at FedExForum on February 03, 2025 in Memphis, Tennessee. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)
Getty Images
The San Antonio Spurs announced Thursday that star center Victor Wembanyama will miss the rest of the season because of deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder. Losing the second-year wunderkind is a devastating blow to the Spurs, but they won’t be the only player or team affected by that news.
Coming out of the All-Star break, Wembanyama was the overwhelming favorite to win the Defensive Player of the Year award. He’s now going to fall far short of the 65-game minimum to make him eligible for that distinction, which now opens the race back up.
Memphis Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. (-110) is the early favorite in Wembanyama’s absence, per FanDuel Sportsbook, but Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley (+110) isn’t far behind. Winning DPOY this season would have massive financial ramifications for Jackson and could create a dilemma for the Grizzlies.
Wembanyama’s health scare is a major blow to the Spurs’ chances of making the playoffs this year, too. Although they beat the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night, they’re still three games behind the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings for the final spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament.
If the Spurs do start sliding down the standings without Wembanyama, that could have a major impact both on this season and beyond.
Lottery Shakeup
Heading into the stretch run of the season, the Washington Wizards (9-45), New Orleans Pelicans (13-42), Utah Jazz (13-41) and Charlotte Hornets (14-40) have a clear lead in the race for the best draft lottery odds. The Toronto Raptors (17-38), Brooklyn Nets (20-35), Philadelphia 76ers (20-35) are in the next tier, while the Portland Trail Blazers (23-33) and Spurs (24-29) could join them in the coming weeks.
The Raptors, Wizards and Sixers have the easiest remaining schedules of any teams in the league, according to Tankathon, while the Spurs have the 11th-hardest. The Spurs aren’t catching the Wizards, but the Sixers and Raptors now may have one more team to worry about as they jostle for lottery odds.
That’s particularly bad news for the Sixers, who’ll send their 2025 first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder if it falls outside of the top six. The Sixers are currently tied with the Nets for the sixth-worst record in the league, and the Spurs are five games up on them with less than 30 games left in the season. If the Sixers go on a late-season run and jump over the Spurs, that will only increase the likelihood of them losing their pick.
Not only do the Spurs have their own first-rounder this year, but they also have a fully unprotected first-round pick from the Atlanta Hawks. There’s a fairly decent chance that they’ll enter draft night with two lottery picks, which they can use to further reinforce their roster around Wembanyama and trade-deadline acquisition De’Aaron Fox.
All-NBA/DPOY Fallout
Had Wembanyama played in at least 65 games, he was a virtual lock to win Defensive Player of the Year. Now that he won’t be eligible for the award, it appears to be a two-man race between Jackson and Mobley.
In certain circumstances, players who win Defensive Player of the Year become eligible to sign a larger contract than they otherwise can receive. For instance, the five-year extension that Mobley signed with the Cavaliers this past offseason does contain language that could bump it up from $224.2 million to $269.1 million if he’s named DPOY.
Jackson and the Grizzlies may have even more riding on the race. If Jackson wins DPOY or makes an All-NBA team, he’ll become eligible for a max extension starting at 35% of the salary cap. If he doesn’t, the Grizzlies might have a tough time convincing him not to become an unrestricted free agent in 2026.
Under the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement, teams can offer 140% of a player’s previous salary or 140% of the league’s estimated average player salary as the starting salary of a new extension. Jackson is set to earn only $23.4 million next season, which means the Grizzlies can’t offer him more than $32.8 million as the starting salary of his extension if he doesn’t make an All-NBA team or win DPOY.
Even if Jackson does qualify for a designated veteran extension, the Grizzlies don’t have to start it at 35% of the 2026-27 salary cap. They’d have far more flexibility to negotiate than they will if he doesn’t, though.
Wembanyama just dramatically increased the likelihood of that being a non-issue for Jackson and the Grizzlies.
The 2025-26 Outlook
According to Mike Finger of the San Antonio Express-News, the Spurs are “not worried” about Wembanyama’s long-term health and are “optimistic” that he’ll be recovered by next season. That’s great news both for Spurs fans and the NBA community at large, as Wembanyama is clearly positioned to become the next face of the league.
His rest-of-season absence might only help in that regard. If the Spurs do add two more lottery picks in this year’s draft, they could soon threaten the Thunder for having the best collection of young talent leaguewide.
The Spurs wouldn’t have to stand pat with those picks, though. They could package them to trade up on draft night if there’s a prospect whom they feel passionate about landing. They could also trade one or both picks for established help. The possibilities are endless.
The timing of Wembanyama’s ailment is unfortunate, as he got to play only four games with Fox before going down for the year. These final two months of the regular season could have helped the Spurs figure out which players work best with that duo and who might be expendable on their current roster . They’ll now have to wait until next season to answer some of those questions.
With that said, the Spurs should be in no hurry for now. Wembanyama still has two years left on his rookie-scale contract after this season. Stephon Castle has three. Devin Vassell will have four years left on his five-year, $135 million extension. And Fox figures to sign a massive extension once he becomes eligible this offseason.
As long as this is only a short-term setback, the Spurs should bounce right back with a healthy Wembanyama next season. And since Wembanyama alone should help keep them out of the league’s basement—not to mention Fox, Castle, Vassell and the rest of San Antonio’s supporting cast—the Spurs might not have another chance quite like this to continue adding impactful young talent.
For now, this temporarily stalls Wembanyama’s takeover of the league. As long as he fully recovers from his DVT, it’s likely still coming at some point soon.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.
Follow Bryan on Bluesky.
