San Antonio Spurs superstar center Victor Wembanyama has been ruled out for the season with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder.
The team announced the unfortunate and abrupt news only days after we saw him compete his tail off during the 2025 NBA All-Star Game festivities.
The Spurs didn't reveal much information besides a diagnosis and the sad reality that Wembanyama "is expected to" miss the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign. But ESPN's Shams Charania clarified that the 21-year-old has a form of a blood clot and that San Antonio believes this is an "isolated condition."
Hopefully, the Spurs are right and Wembanyama can return to being his awesome self on the basketball court at the start of next season. He's one of the most fun and unique players in the league to watch. Few have enjoyed as special a beginning to their career as the French phenom.
In the short term, the show goes in San Antonio, with or without Wembanyama. The ceiling and floor are undeniably and significantly lower sans the 2023 No. 1 overall pick. Yet, coming out of the All-Star break, the Spurs are only 3.5 games back of the final play-in spot in the Western Conference.
Nothing the Spurs can do now will fill the void left by Wemby. He's the driving force and face of the franchise. However, the club isn't going to roll over (or maybe they will and prioritize boosting their draft lottery odds, but you get the point). With that in mind, here are three impromptu moves San Antonio can make to at least try overcoming the loss of its organizational centerpiece.
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3. Sign one of Mo Bamba or Omer Yurtseven
Zach Collins was Wembanyama's primary backup over the past one-plus seasons. But the veteran big man is now with the Chicago Bulls following the blockbuster trade that re-routed star point guard De'Aaron Fox to San Antonio. The Spurs have left themselves vulnerable in the frontcourt and don't have an answer on the bench.
Charles Bassey is the next man up on the depth chart for San Antonio. Although, he's been sidelined since spraining his MCL against the Memphis Grizzlies on Feb. 3. Sandro Mamukelashvili has seen some playing time because of the injury, but his role hasn't been expanded. The former has only logged three career starts across his four years as a pro, and the Spurs ostensibly don't trust the latter.
Bassey's inexperience and Mamukelashvili not being relied upon give the Spurs reasons to explore the open market for center help. Albeit unexciting, Mo Bamba and Omer Yurtseven present plausible free-agent fill-ins.
As the sixth overall draft selection in 2018, Bamba's pedigree alone makes him worthy of a flier. Moreover, as a 7-footer who can stretch the floor offensively and protect the rim defensively, his skill set resembles Wembanyama's. He averages 1.3 blocks per game and is a career 35.7 percent three-point shooter on 2.3 nightly attempts.
Meanwhile, despite the small sample size, Yurtseven has a track record of success when given a chance. He's averaged 10.3 points and 10.9 rebounds across 24 career starts, establishing himself as a double-double threat. His shot-blocking prowess leaves much to be desired, but the Turkish center can contribute elsewhere.
2. Move Stephon Castle into the starting lineup
Enough is enough. It's time for the Spurs to give up on the Fox-Chris Paul backcourt tandem experiment. Play your young star players! Interim head coach Mitch Johnson has been depriving himself and the squad of this, specifically by leaving standout rookie Stephon Castle on the bench. And with Wembanyama out, they must make the switch.
Castle thrived with the first unit in 10 straight contests before Fox's arrival sparked a lineup change. He posted 17.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists on .468/.348/.725 shooting splits during that stretch. While shifting to a reserve hasn't hurt his hot streak or minutes, the UConn product did nothing to merit a title demotion.
Conversely, Castle's efforts have validated him as a building block alongside Wembanyama in San Antonio for years to come. The 20-year-old will clearly factor into the Spurs' plans moving forward, so why not use this time to get ahead of the curve? This is an opportunity to hand him the keys to the car and see how far he can drive it.
1. Pray
No in-season solution for Wemby is walking through that door anytime soon. Sorry to break it to you, Spurs fans. The front office can only do so much to replicate his presence and production. At this point, it's merely damage control and looking to a higher being for some semblance of optimism.
Keep your fingers crossed as Wembanyama and the Spurs try to put this scary situation behind them sooner rather than later.