Milwaukee Bucks: Eric Bledsoe reportedly sidelined with small rib fracture
According to reports, Milwaukee Bucks point guard Eric Bledsoe has reportedly suffered a small rib fracture, which casts doubts over him being available for the start of the 2019-20 season.
We’re less than two weeks from the start of the Milwaukee Bucks’ 2019-20 season, but there are already dealing with some bad news as they continue preparing for their highly anticipated campaign.
As The Athletic’s Shams Charania first reported Friday morning, starting Bucks point guard Eric Bledsoe has suffered a small rib fracture, an injury that could sideline him for up to 2-3 weeks.
Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe has suffered a small fracture of his rib and will miss up to two-to-three weeks, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 11, 2019
It all occurred in the Bucks’ preseason rout over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night where Bledsoe left the game midway through the second quarter with what was initially deemed as a oblique strain.
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Of course, that timeline casts some concern over whether Bledsoe will be available for action when the Bucks kick off the 2019-20 season against the revamped Houston Rockets on Thursday, October 24.
That obviously forces the Bucks to rejigger their mainstay starting lineup, which Bledsoe has been a part of since arriving to Milwaukee nearly two years ago.
And with their point guard depth already pretty shallow with only George Hill secured on the Bucks’ 15-man roster, that puts the team in an uncomfortable position as they have to pivot from how they were constructing their rotation going into the year.
That’s where guard and two-way player Frank Mason III looms large over this conversation as he’ll obviously taking on a bigger role backing up Hill with what’s left of the Bucks’ preseason run and potentially the start of the season.
Two-way contracts obviously limit Mason’s availability to the Bucks for 45 days, though they have made the use of those days far less stringent than how they were first enacted when two-way contracts were instituted under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Those days don’t start going into effect until the start of the G League calendar, which will be on October 28. That obviously means Mason theoretically could serve extended rotation minutes without burning up any of his two-way days for at least the first two games the Bucks play this year against the Rockets and for their home opener against the Miami Heat.
That would be the best-case scenario in regards to Mason, but it could all be mute depending on how Bledsoe’s recovery goes over the following couple of weeks.
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We’ll have to wait and see whether Bledsoe could make his return in time to be ready for the season, but it certainly casts some pall over the start to the Bucks’ 2019-20 season.