The fallout from Victor Wembanyama's injury will reach further than his wingspan

Victor Wembanyama has been ruled out for the rest of the NBA season with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder, the team announced Thursday. The shocking news will have a far-reaching impact on the second half of the NBA season.

If there was a list of people to feel sorry for in the wake of this news, Wembanyama would obviously be alone at the top. But you wouldn't get too far before coming to De'Aaron Fox, who forced his way to San Antonio just prior to the trade deadline. Now, with the Spurs still 3.5 games behind the Sacramento Kings for a spot in the play-in tournament, Fox will likely see his old team pull away as the Spurs fall by the wayside without their best player.

That dynamic is part of a Western Conference playoff race and several other things impacted by Wembanyama's injury, including award races and the NBA draft. Let's take a deeper dive into those things.

The Warriors, Kings and Suns playoff chances just got a little better

Here's a quick glimpse at the Western Conference standings entering Thursday. You'll notice the Spurs are closer to the Portland Trail Blazers at No. 13 than they are to the Kings and Golden State Warriors, who occupy the final two play-in spots.

8. Dallas Mavericks 30-26 (15 GB)

9. Sacramento Kings 28-27 (16.5 GB)

10. Golden State Warriors 28-27 (16.5 GB)

11. Phoenix Suns 26-28 (18 GB)

12. San Antonio Spurs 23-29 (20 GB)

13. Portland Trail Blazers 23-32 (21.5 GB)

I'm pointing this out to say the Spurs were always going to need to be near-perfect in the second half of the season just to have a shot at the playoffs. They're only 2-3 since acquiring Fox, but there was at least some optimism they could improve as the chemistry got better. Without Wembanyama, that hope is dead.

The Spurs bowing out leaves one less team for the Kings, Warriors and Suns to worry about as they likely embark on a three-headed race for the final two spots in the play-in. And with the Warriors trending up following their trade for Jimmy Butler, it'll probably be the Suns and Kings fighting for that last spot. That's a tough blow for De'Aaron Fox.

Wembanyama's award ineligibility is deeper than DPOY

The thing most people probably thought about first after hearing the Wembanyama news was how it might impact his standing in award races, because he was the runaway favorite for Defensive Player of the Year with -2500 odds at BetMGM. The answer is that he's now disqualified.

The NBA's rules require players participate in at least 65 games to be eligible for most awards. Wembanyama's season is over at 46 games, so he's is no longer in the running. That leaves Jaren Jackson Jr. as the new DPOY favorite at -125, with Evan Mobley just behind him at +105. A previously uncontested race is now wide open.

But that's not the only award impacted by Wembanyama's injury. The seven-footer will also be ineligible for the All-NBA and All-Defense teams, which he was trending towards making first team for both. The unfortunate circumstances for Wembanyama will force voters to put somebody else in those spots.

The Spurs have an outside shot at Cooper Flagg

OK, so here's the part where Wizards, Pelicans and Jazz fans might want to turn away, because you haven't suffered through one of the most miserable seasons of your existence just to have the Spurs come in and scoop up the crown jewel of this summer's draft, Cooper Flagg, at the last minute. But that's actually a possibility now that Wembanyama is out.

And listen, the Spurs expect Wemby to be fine for the start of next season. So, if they do get Flagg, I can't even begin to tell you how unfair it would be.

The Spurs were already in position for top-10 lottery odds just based on their own 23-29 record, but if they start losing at a higher clip, they could easily improve those odds over the next 30 games before the end of the season. It's unlikely they'd make up the 11-game difference between themselves and Utah at No. 3 (teams with the three worst records share top lottery odds), but the more ping pong balls the better and the Spurs are trending in the right direction as far as that goes.

More heat for the All-Star Game?

After all the handwringing over the All-Star Game, the NBA finally found a formula to get its players to at least give a semblance of effort Sunday, and then this happens. That's terrible optics for the league.

Now, look, it doesn't sound like Wembanyama's injury came from the All-Star Game, or anything from All-Star weekend for that matter. The Athletic's Sam Amick reported that Wembanyama was dealing with a concerning low-energy problem that he carried into the weekend. So, the game or any increased effort shouldn't be blamed for what happened. That doesn't mean it won't be, though.

The optics paint a picture of a player who went into All-Star Weekend healthy enough to participate (and devise a bad scheme) in the Skills Challenge one day and play in the All-Star Game the next, and came out of it with a season-ending injury. If players were hesitant to care about these events before, I can't imagine this helps to get them to care more.

More annoying TV ratings talk

Listen, I'm as annoyed and over debates about the NBA's television ratings and why they're down as the next person, but Wembanyama's injury has the potential to re-spark those conversations. Why? Because he's one of the NBA's brightest young stars and one of the few players people will show up to watch no matter what.

Because of Wembanyama, the Spurs were set to play in three nationally televised games over the next 11 days, including Thursday against the Phoenix Suns. Without him, those games won't perform nearly as well, which shouldn't be of much concern to us fans, but that hasn't stopped people from making these things their concern in the recent past.

That's before we get into how the numbers would have looked for a play-in tournament and potential playoff games with Wembanyama. His presence would have helped quiet those discussions a whole lot.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: The fallout from Victor Wembanyama's injury will reach further than his wingspan