As the NBA readied itself to return from the All-Star break, a worrying bit of news developed out of San Antonio.
Spurs All-Star center Victor Wembanyama has been diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder and will miss the rest of the season.
Essentially, Wembanyama has a form of blood clot, which the Spurs discovered after Wembanyama’s return to San Antonio after All-Star weekend.
Needless to say, any type of blood clot is enormously serious, to the point where basketball concerns are simply secondary.
This isn’t the first health scare in San Antonio this season, as head coach Gregg Popovich suffered a mild stroke on Nov. 2 and has yet to make his return.
Fortunately for Wembanyama, it appears his prognosis is good.
According to Mike Finger from the San Antonio Express-News, the Spurs are not worried about Wembanyama’s long-term health, and they expect him to recover for the start of next season.
Finger added he’s been told the blood clot is not as serious as the condition that forced former All-Star Chris Bosh into retirement.
If you just uttered a sigh of relief, that’s understandable. If the Spurs are already looking forward to next season, from a basketball perspective, it suggests Wembanyama’s situation is indeed manageable, likely meaning his life isn’t in any type of danger.
That’s obviously the most important thing to take away.
As for the aforementioned not important basketball stuff, the game is still the game. So let’s take a look at the Spurs’ future, both in the long term and the immediate.
Given that San Antonio is indeed planning for his return in the fall, Wembanyama is still very much expected to be its franchise player moving forward.
As such, we shouldn’t expect any type of drastic pivot for the Spurs. San Antonio’s confidence in Wembanyama’s return is both positive and severely calming given the nature of his diagnosis.
In terms of the Spurs’ immediate future, things will change, understandably so when you lose a 7-foot-5 All-Star center who was the leading candidate to win Defensive Player of the Year.
San Antonio’s lottery odds are likely to improve, but that feels icky to even type out, as everyone would obviously prefer to relinquish some projected draft value to have a healthy Wembanyama developing and competing.
However, it would appear the Spurs will simply lose more games now, offering them a draft lottery boost, which ultimately could strengthen their roster for next year, with their own first-round pick and one from Atlanta.
As for the on-court product, now might be time to roll out Sandro Mamukelashvili in a much larger capacity.
The 6-11 big man is highly skilled but underutilized in the Spurs’ rotation. Mamukelashvili sports a reliable 3-point shot (43.6%), a high conversation rate inside (86.4% within three feet) and the abilities to board at a high level and pass on the move.
The Georgian-American center also offers a 250-pound frame that allows him to bully opponents down low.
The 25-year-old obviously won’t solve what San Antonio will be missing without Wembanyama, but he could offer the Spurs a level of production they won’t be able to find elsewhere on the roster.
As for the production elsewhere, expect De’Aaron Fox, Devin Vassell and Stephon Castle to carry a bigger offensive burden moving forward.
Of course, these all fall as distant priorities to the health of Wembanyama, which will take center stage within the Spurs organization for at least the next few months, as they ready themselves, and their star, for a return.
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