Bledsoe is close to rejoining Bucks
Every day the Milwaukee Bucks get a little bit less rusty, a little bit more prepared to restart their season inside the NBA’s bubble at Walt Disney World. Over the past 10 days, they’ve acclimated to their new environment and ramped up activities to the point of having regular, full-scale practices — something that hadn’t happened since mid-March.
As the Bucks head toward their first scrimmage Thursday and first real game July 31, the main question that remains is regarding the health of point guard Eric Bledsoe, who tested positive for COVID-19 more than two weeks ago and has yet to join the team in Orlando. When will Bledsoe —who is reportedly asymptomatic despite the positive test — be able to rejoin his team? Will the virus affect his play at all or will he be able to get back up to speed quickly?
Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer met with the media via Zoom on Sunday and didn’t have much of an update. He did, however, exude optimism as he referenced Bledsoe’s prognosis.
“The NBA has protocols that I think are trying to keep us all in our best place, our safest, to have a positive experience,” Budenholzer said. “When he clears those and when there’s something new to share with you guys we will, but we do feel like he’s on the closer end of the spectrum (to returning) than the longer.”
Despite playing fewer minutes, Bledsoe was right on pace with his averages from last season when the NBA season halted in March. He was averaging 15.4 points, 5.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds in only 27.2 minutes per game while maintaining a level of defensive intensity that should have him
again vying for one of the NBA’s all-defensive teams after earning the firstteam nod a year ago.
The expectation is that Bledsoe will be able to join the team in Orlando by the time the regular-season seeding games start July 31, offering him a few weeks’ time to get up to speed before the playoffs start in mid-August. However, there’s no blueprint for coming back from a positive coronavirus test, something the team and its medical staff are acutely aware of as they devise a plan to reintegrate Bledsoe.
“Now, just trying how to figure out how we can best help Bled and make sure he’s healthy for not just the short term but for the long term,” Budenholzer said.
With the top seed in the Eastern Conference all but wrapped up will have some wiggle room when it comes to how they handle their three upcoming scrimmages and eight seeding games. Should Bledsoe be absent for any segment of time, Milwaukee’s deep bench should be able to shoulder the load.
George Hill, who enters the restart with the best three-point percentage (48.0%) in the league this season, has been a strong, steady presence and with his ample experience can easily slot into the starting lineup for Bledsoe.
Despite the long lay-off, Hill said his shot hasn’t changed and is still feeling great.
To him, basketball is basketball. Getting back on the court and getting shots up is all about confidence — a feeling that hasn’t waned for him over the past four months.
But Hill is quick to point out there are bigger, more important things than basketball going on right now, even as he and most of his teammates are hard at work trying to get back to normal. There’s still COVID-19 causing serious problems around the work, he and his teammates are engaging each other issues of racism and social injustice and, of course, he and his teammates are thinking of Bledsoe — their friend more than their teammate — and hoping for the best for him in his current situation.
“I mean, you start to feel a little sad, but at the same time just reaching out and making sure him and his family is safe,” Hill said when asked of his initial reaction to Bledsoe’s positive test. “We know this virus has taken many people. We know this virus is nothing to play with. So just being that support and that backbone to give him an uplift, make sure his family is safe and sound and he’s safe and sound and let him figure out the rest.”
When it comes to basketball, though, the Bucks have an additional safety net when it comes to padding their point guard depth in Bledsoe’s absence. Usually, players on two-way contracts are not available in the playoffs, but this year’s unusual circumstances have allowed teams to absorb those players onto their playoff roster.
That means Frank Mason III — who earned G League MVP honors while spending much of the season with the Wisconsin Herd — can serve as another point guard option for Budenholzer on the bench.
“It’s been a good opportunity so far,” Mason said. “With us missing Bled, I get an opportunity to get out and show coach what I can do. My job is just to go out and make the team better and be a leader and do whatever I can do to bring positive energy to the team.”