Victor Wembanyama Out for Season
In a devastating blow not just for Spurs fans, but for NBA fans as a whole, Victor Wembanyama—one of the most dominant, exciting, and unstoppable players in the league—has been ruled out for the rest of the season with Deep Vein Thrombosis in his right shoulder. Unfortunately for the Spurs, this effectively ends their season. Sitting in 12th place with a record of 24-30, four games behind the 10-seed Sacramento Kings, they have already lost their coach for medical recovery earlier in the season and now their young All-Star. While it’s possible that the trade for De'Aaron Fox could help the Spurs make the play-in, there will be an irreplaceable on-court presence missing from a man who provides 24/11/4/4 on any given night.
The silver lining for Wemby and the Spurs is that interim head coach Mitch Johnson noted this week that his long-term health likely won’t be affected by this unfortunate setback:
“The medical experts and the people that are smarter than everybody in the room have said and confirm that he'll be done this year, and there is no concern for Victor's long-term health, personally, or anything related to his basketball activities.”
This is likely a really disappointing end to the first season of Spurs relevance in a significant time. However, if the Spurs miss the playoffs, they will likely end up with a very solid draft pick. This could be paired with an offseason signing from the growing list of possible free agents and trade targets, potentially positioning the Spurs in the middle of the pack next season.
Mark Williams Affirms Physical Readiness
This season's trade deadline was remarkable, and amidst the unexpected twists and turns, one of the most interesting events was the Lakers trading for—and subsequently rescinding—a trade for Mark Williams. The trade, which initially aimed to send Williams to the Lakers in exchange for Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, and picks, was orchestrated as an attempt to replace Anthony Davis, who days earlier had been sent to Dallas for Luka Dončić in the biggest move of the offseason.
However, shortly after the trade deadline, the Lakers organisation announced that the Williams trade had been rescinded due to him failing the physical test.
As of now, Mark Williams' agent Jeff Schwartz has released a statement disputing the decision. Schwartz stated:
“The overwhelming sentiment, after conferring with multiple nationally recognised doctors, is that the Los Angeles Lakers should not have failed Mark Williams on his physical,” and that “Mark was ready and able to play for them and should have been given that opportunity.”
The Lakers have refused to comment.
Mark Williams also shared his own perspective on the issue, stating:
“I don't think it was solely because of my physical. I felt like I could have contributed to them, but obviously they had second thoughts.”
The Lakers reserved the right to fail Williams’ physical and rescind the trade for any reason they wished. However, it begs the question of why they would do this—why they would cause locker room dissatisfaction by sending two players away only to bring them back days later—if it wasn’t legitimate.
There is no change that can come from this; the Lakers cannot rerun the physical and bring Williams onto the team, nor can Williams and Schwartz take any legitimate action.
Williams took to Instagram to voice his frustration this past week, posting a series of images with the caption:
“There’s always peace when you know the truth.”
Bobby Portis Banned for 25 Games
Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis has been suspended by the NBA for 25 games for violating the banned substance policy.
Portis tested positive for the drug tramadol, a severe pain medication he was using for inflammation in his elbow. Both Portis and his representative, Mark Bartelstein, claim that it was an honest mistake, and that Portis had incidentally used tramadol instead of toradol, an approved substance by the NBA.
Portis currently has no plans to appeal the suspension. However, it is a significant loss for the Bucks and once again emphasises the NBA’s strictness regarding banned substances.
Doc Rivers has also voiced his frustration with the decision, stating:
“Rules are rules, I get it, but there are also human circumstances and common sense to me. To me, that's what we have to try to figure out how to change this a little bit. Because when it's clear that when names are that close, and it's clear, you can tell now from the blood samples that was the only time ever, that you would think we could do something less severe.”
This ban will sideline Portis for the remainder of the regular season and the beginning of the playoffs.
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