The San Antonio Spurs are 2-0 this season without Victor Wembanyama in the lineup, and the team is expected to remain in contention even without its best player.
The San Antonio Spurs are 2-0 this season without Victor Wembanyama, getting wins over the Sacramento Kings and Memphis Grizzlies as he misses time with a calf injury. Of course, neither the Kings nor the Grizzlies are exactly quality opponents, but any wins without San Antonio's best player should be celebrated.
The Spurs are 10-4 to kick off the season, good for fifth in the Western Conference. Of course, as their schedule gets tougher and Wembanyama remains out, the Spurs will likely hit a skid. Still, they are expected to keep their heads above water, at least for the time being.
Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle have joined Wembanyama on the injury report, although with their star trio out, De'Aaron Fox and Harrison Barnes have stepped up in a big way.
Since 2023, surrounding Wembanyama with as much depth as possible has been the top priority in San Antonio.
"The Spurs are outscoring opponents by nearly nine points per 100 possessions when Wemby is on the court, but that figure dips all the way down to two per 100 when he’s not," wrote The Ringer's Kirk Goldsberry. "That’s actually good news compared with last season, when the team got boat raced anytime Wemby was off the floor. San Antonio is in better shape to survive games without Wemby this season."
Goldsberry went on to cite Fox's star power and the addition of backup center Luke Kornet as reasons for Spurs fans to remain optimistic. Of course, the Spurs are at their best when their best player is healthy, that's just common sense, although they won't drop winnable games to bad teams without Wembanyama.
The Spurs, luckily, will play only 11 games in the next 30 days, limiting the damage even if they do skid. While they struggled earlier this year to beat the Brooklyn Nets and New Orleans Pelicans, they did walk away from those contests with two wins.
Looking ahead, Wembanyama might miss games against the Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Grizzlies, Orlando Magic, Pelicans, and Washington Wizards.
While upcoming contests against teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, and Minnesota Timberwolves will remain challenging, the Spurs should be able to weather to storm, provided Wembanyama makes a somewhat speedy recovery. Expect San Antonio to remain in the playoff picture well past Christmas. By then, Wembanyama should be back to full strength.