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Reflecting On Damien Inglis’ Time With The Milwaukee Bucks

By Jordan Treske

Mar 17, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Damien Inglis (17) blocks a shot by Memphis Grizzlies guard Ray McCallum (5) in the second quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 17, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Damien Inglis (17) blocks a shot by Memphis Grizzlies guard Ray McCallum (5) in the second quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports /
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With the news that his time in Milwaukee has come to an end, we take a look back at Damien Inglis‘ time as a Buck and what could have been.

Before we begin, you may be wondering why you’re devoting your time to reading an ode for a player that only played in 20 games (156 minutes, for those wondering) and spent the majority of his time in Milwaukee on the sidelines over the course of two seasons.

Alas, that is the case with now ex-Buck Damien Inglis.

On Wednesday afternoon, Charles Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the Milwaukee Bucks have requested waivers on Inglis, as well as Johnny O’Bryant, and with that news, the time for both players with the team came to a disappointing, but unsurprising end.

Now that both Inglis and O’Bryant are gone, only Jabari Parker remains with the team from the players the Bucks selected just two years ago.

While many of us can come to the conclusions for why O’Bryant won’t be returning, there’s probably a few of you out there who are wondering why Inglis is seeing the same fate.

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After all, we’re talking about a player that missed his entire rookie season due to injury and spent the majority of his time this season (when he wasn’t sent down to the D-League) waiting for playing time that largely never came.

This all speaks to the idea of what Damien Inglis is and it’s one that has been long enticed many Bucks fans (including yours truly) over the last two seasons.

Due to his injury, one that eventually forced him to miss his entire rookie season, the only video evidence that we were able to see of Inglis were from draft videos, specifically from Draft Express.

Milwaukee Bucks
Mar 21, 2016; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Damien Inglis (17) dunks during the second quarter against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /

From there, it was easy to see why the Bucks selected him with the 31st overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.

We saw a player that, in theory, could defend multiple positions, had the makings of a shooter and more importantly, had plenty of potential.  That was made even more interesting due to the outlook of the Bucks at the time, especially as they were on the way to an unexpected 41-win season that included a trip to the playoffs.

The problem with all of this is that by the time Inglis recovered from his broken foot before the start of this season, the idea of what many of us thought Inglis could be never fully materialized on the court.

While some of that falls on the shoulders of Inglis, some of it falls on the Bucks themselves.  After coming off a season where arguably the bench was their best asset, expecting a player coming off of an injury (not the only player to do so too) and adjusting to playing in the NBA to assume a sizeable role within the team’s rotation was quite a tall order.

Of course, that begs the question of whether Inglis should have been in the D-League from the beginning, where he could have developed under less scrutiny. Unfortunately, that’s a question that none of us can truly answer.

Obviously the Bucks couldn’t have done that with their own team as they don’t have one (yet), but maybe the “legacy” or lesson in all of this is that they hopefully don’t make the same mistakes in the future that they made with Inglis.

Hindsight is 20/20 and with that, it’s easy to look back and see why we wanted to believe in Inglis when most, if not all of us, overlooked the obstacles he had to overcome just to get back on the court.  We’re not the only ones to do so obviously as the Bucks did the same thing themselves.

Where Inglis goes from here remains to be seen, but with the potential that he has, it’s very possible that he’ll get a chance from some NBA team, likely through their D-League affiliate.

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With that said, whether he’ll realize at least some of his potential down the road is an entirely different question. The one thing we know for sure; it won’t be in Milwaukee.

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