On the first official day of the NBA's return to regular season play after the All-Star break (Hornets-Lakers was a rescheduled game) bombshell news was delivered to playoff-caliber teams in both conferences. First, Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis was suspended for 25 games for "unintentionally" violating the league's anti-drug policy.
The Bucks currently sit in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings and lose one of the key rotation pieces for the first 25 of their remaining 29 games. That could prove costly as they trailed the Indiana Pacers by one game for the fourth seed and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
In the Western Conference, the 12th-seeded San Antonio Spurs lost their best player and Defensive Player of the Year favorite Victor Wembanyama for the rest of the season due to a deep vein thrombosis (a form of a blood clot) in his right shoulder. While that news is devastating for the Spurs and the general NBA viewing audience, it provides a ripple effect to the rest of the Western Conference, including the Memphis Grizzlies.
Eliminates a potential first round opponent
The Grizzlies have been teetering between the second and third seeds for most of the season while the Spurs have been teetering between the eighth and 12th seeds. With the NBA's play-in tournament set to have the eighth and seventh-seed teams play for the seventh seed, the Spurs presented a potential first-round opponent for the Grizzlies.
The current standings already made it an unlikely scenario to occur as the Grizzlies trail the Oklahoma City Thunder by eight games for the first seed, eliminating an opportunity for a one vs eight matchup. Also, the Spurs trail the Dallas Mavericks by five games for the eighth seed so their best opportunity for the play-in is catching the Golden State Warriors at number 10, whom they trail by 3.5 games.
Opens door for Jaren Jackson Jr. to win 2nd Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY)
Victor Wembanyama was the runaway favorite for Defensive Player of the Year despite the Spurs' 22nd ranking as a team in defensive efficiency. However, his 3.8 blocks per game are the most by any player since the 2000 - 2001 season, making it tough for him to relinquish that spot as the NBA's best defender.
With 30 games remaining, Wembanyama will miss more than the league-mandated 65-game threshold to be available to win an award or make an All-NBA team. That paves the way for Memphis' All-Star forward Jaren Jackson Jr. to take the lead as the favorite to win his second Defensive Player of the Year award.
The ESPN Bet odds had Jackson Jr. listed in second with +2500 odds before the injury announcement and his odds have since gone up to -125. He has competition in Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley who trails him closely with +125 odds and finished third in DPOY voting when Jaren won the award during the 2022-23 season.