Report: Spurs sped up rebuild in case Wemby were to have shortened career, but likely didn’t picture blood clot issue

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Star big man Victor Wembanyama’s 2024-25 season with the San Antonio Spurs appears to be over. The expectation is that Wembanyama will be sidelined for the remainder of the campaign with a blood clot in his right shoulder, though the Spurs are reportedly “very confident” that he will make a full recovery before the beginning of the 2025-26 season.

Following the unfortunate news regarding one of the top young players in the league, Five Reasons Sports’ Ethan J. Skolnick reported that the Spurs already decided previously to expedite their rebuild in case Wembanyama were to have a shortened career. Skolnick added, however, that the Spurs probably didn’t have his new diagnosis in mind.

“I’ve mentioned that the Spurs have done studies about players like Wemby (there aren’t many) and decided to fast track their rebuild in case his career was cut short,” Skolnick wrote via Discord. “But I don’t think this was in mind. Let’s hope it resolves like Brandon Ingram’s did. Not like [Chris] Bosh.”

Bosh formerly played for the Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors, and he had to retire from the league in his early 30s due to blood clotting issues. He likely would have carved out plenty more seasons of productive play in the league if not for his condition.

Meanwhile, Ingram, currently a member of the Toronto Raptors, saw his 2018-19 season get cut short thanks to deep vein thrombosis in his right arm. Deep vein thrombosis is the same diagnosis that Wembanyama just received. Ingram’s NBA career is still going strong, and he played in 64 games with the New Orleans Pelicans a season ago.

While their goals for the season may have to be adjusted in light of Wembanyama going down, the Spurs made moves dating back to last summer showing a desire to improve this season and beyond.

For one, they signed veteran floor general Chris Paul in the offseason. Paul isn’t the All-Star caliber player he once was, but he still has a knack for playmaking, and he’s dishing out 8.1 assists per game in the 2024-25 campaign.

The Spurs also solidified their guard situation even further ahead of the Feb. 6 trade deadline by acquiring star guard De’Aaron Fox. Fox has played five games as a Spur so far this season and is averaging 21.6 points, 7.8 assists and 1.8 steals per contest with his new team.

With any luck, Wembanyama won’t have any setbacks during his recovery process and will be good to go for San Antonio before next season starts up, as is the expectation.