This may not have much to do with the Utah Jazz, but they should pay attention to it. The San Antonio Spurs got some devastating news earlier today when Shams Charania announced that Victor Wembanyama will miss the rest of the season because of deep vein thrombosis. In other words, a blood clot.
San Antonio Spurs All-Star Victor Wembanyama is expected to miss reminder of the season with a deep vein thrombosis in right shoulder.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 20, 2025
It's unfortunate, but luckily, the Spurs caught it before it could become potentially career-threatening. Wembanyama is largely believed to be the next face of the NBA, so it's a relief to see that this hopefully won't be too bad for him long-term.
Everyone should wish him a full and speedy recovery for next season. With him out, that drastically hurts the Spurs' ceiling this season. Sure, they traded for De'Aaron Fox, but it's pretty clear how much their season depends on Wembanyama. With him out, they now have to think about their best option is coming out of the All-Star Break.
The Spurs are 23-29, which makes them the fourth-worst team in the Western Conference, as they're just barely ahead of the Trail Blazers in that regard, while the Jazz and Pelicans are almost neck-and-neck for the lowest seed in the West.
Per Tankathon, the Spurs are the 10th-worst team in the league. Losing Wembanyama could make them embrace the tank. It wouldn't take much for Portland (who had a recent nice stretch of basketball) to surpass them.
Chicago's not too far behind them, too, and after the Raptors traded for Brandon Ingram at the trade deadline (for some reason), the Spurs could drop to the sixth-best odds for the No. 1 pick in the draft if they decide to embrace the tank and all goes well in that regard.
What can help the Jazz keep the Spurs' at arm's length in the tanking race
The Jazz needn't worry about the Spurs yet because no one will know their plans until they play without Wenbanyama for the rest of the season.
If San Antonio goes for the tank, the Jazz's tanking efforts will already be more effective than the Spurs' because the Spurs have been much better than the Jazz. Also, Utah has already played all of their games against San Antonio. Head-to-head matchups can be crucial in the tanking game.
Losing games against tanking competitors can be huge when it's all said and done. This season, the Jazz went 1-3 against the Spurs, and that looks even better if and when the Spurs decide to throw the rest of their season away.
That doesn't mean San Antonio won't be a problem for tankers like the Jazz for the rest of the season. But at least, in the end, the Jazz had their bases covered from their matchups against the Spurs.