Thursday, it was announced that star cornerstone Victor Wembanyama would be shut down for the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign as tests show he's suffering from a deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder. Though undoubtedly a devastating blow for the San Antonio Spurs and, of course, the big man himself, the ripple effects of Wemby's shelving could also impact the OKC Thunder.
At 24-29, the Spurs are soundly in the mix to contend for a Play-In Tournament spot over these final months of action.
However, with 3.5 games and two rungs of separation between them and the 10 seed in the standings, it's evident they've still got a hill to climb if they wish to punch their proverbial ticket.
Without Wembanyama, this could prove to be quite a daunting task.
This season, San Antonio has gone just 3-4 and hold a point differential of -9.3 with their cornerstone sidelined. This, unsurprisingly, is in direct contrast to their +11.6 differential with him in the game.
Barring any unforeseen miracles, such as newly acquired star guard De'Aaron Fox putting the entire team on his back or Chris Paul reverting to his pre-2020s form over their next 29 games, hope for a Spurs playoff bid is now dashed.
In turn, this brings a bit more clarity to how the Western Conference's final standings will likely pan out, particularly when it comes to who the Thunder could end up playing in round one of the playoffs.
For someone like Warriors star Draymond Green, this should be viewed as a potential opportunity to bring more credence to his recent claims.
Wemby decision may increase odds of Thunder vs Warriors playoff series
As things currently stand, the team whose status in the standings would be directly threatened by a Wembanyama-led Spurs coming out of the All-Star break is the Golden State Warriors.
At 28-27, the Dubs reside in the 10 seed and, with the recent addition of Jimmy Butler ahead of the February 6 trade deadline, are clearly looking to clinch their 10 playoff berth in 13 years.
Not only this, but, recently, the club's trash-talking savant, Draymond Green, made a rather bold proclamation stating Golden State can win the 2025 NBA Championship due to his belief that none of the teams this year "are that great."
Now, amid his rambling, the star forward did admit that to win their fifth title in 11 years they're going to have to "get through the champs" in the Boston Celtics.
However, what he failed to mention is that, before even getting to the championship round, the Warriors will likely have to get through the Thunder in their own conference, especially considering they're currently in the running for the eighth-seed in the West standings which, in the first round, would have them squaring off against this top-seeded Oklahoma City squad.
While this hypothetical quarterfinal series may have already been highly expected heading into the All-Star break, with Wembanyama now out for the year and San Antonio's postseason odds plummeting as a result it seems the matchup could be even more likely to happen, especially if the rest of the conference remains as competitive and stationary during this second-half stretch.
Someone of Green's ilk and personality would certainly relish the opportunity to take on the best team in the league right out of the gates.