Perhaps Victor Wembanyama is due for a pleasant surprise. After his sophomore campaign — on pace to be much stronger than his rookie season — was cut short with a deep vein thrombosis diagnosis in his right shoulder, the San Antonio Spurs' lacking center depth was even more exposed than previously known.

Victor Wembanyama is one of the faces of the NBA, the star of the San Antonio Spurs and already one of the biggest names in basketball around the world.

At 23-29, the Spurs occupy just the No. 12 seed in a crowded Western Conference. They are a scant 3.5 games behind the No. 10-seeded Golden State Warriors (28-27), but without their best player, they seem doomed now to miss the play-in tournament entirely and head straight for the lottery.