The Milwaukee Bucks are looking to finish off their hardest road trip of the 2020-21 season on a high note.
Having picked up wins over the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers and Sacramento Kings, the Bucks fell back down to 32-18 on the year after their fourth quarter collapse in their 122-121 loss to the Golden State Warriors. While that has gone on, their long-term future is set up in light of Jrue Holiday signing his four-extension over the holiday weekend.
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When it comes to the short-term picture, though, Milwaukee’s big trade acquisition of P.J. Tucker has yet to come to fruition in any meaningful way to this point. As he has been for the Bucks’ last six games, Tucker is inactive as he continues to nurse a left calf strain.
Tucker has still been with the team throughout the trip and as The Athletic’s Eric Nehm tweeted before the Bucks’ meeting with the Warriors, Tucker has been able to handle some physical activity on the court according to Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer.
Bud: "He's moving forward, which is important. And I think we don't want to rush that process or skip any steps. He's definitely making progress. He's doing work. I don't have a clearer answer to the timeline, but he is making progress, which I think is the most important thing."
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) April 6, 2021
While the timeline is currently murky for when Tucker will eventually make his return to action, especially with such a tricky injury, it’s good for the Bucks to preach patience when it comes to managing the status of the 36-year-old.
The Milwaukee Bucks are banking hard on P.J. Tucker fortifying their defense.
However, the timing of acquiring Tucker and seeing him spend the vast majority of his time in Milwaukee on the sidelines poses quite the hurdle in trying to integrate him within the Bucks’ foundation. To this point, Tucker has only played 45 total minutes with the Bucks.
Even within the slim amount of minutes we’ve seen of Tucker in a Bucks uniform, he has brought a different dimension to the Bucks’ defense as seen in his debut last month. The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor recently wrote on the number of switched screens the Bucks’ defense has made with Tucker on the floor:
"“In his 44 minutes so far this season, we have seen flashes of what Milwaukee’s defense could look like with him. The Bucks switched 39 percent of screens, much higher than the 23 percent when he hasn’t been on the court, according to Second Spectrum.”"
As they reportedly pursued Tucker for the better part of five months, the Bucks have been banking hard on Tucker standing as the defensive catalyst they need to bring together the defensive experimentation they’ve undergone this season. It hasn’t been a seamless transition, especially for a Bucks team that ranked the best in defensive efficiency in each of the last two seasons, but it’s made them more adaptable for the postseason.
In practice, Tucker’s gritty and sturdy defensive services gives them the exact skill set the Bucks need to really tie their defensive evolution together. In reality, the concerns of his durability and age only makes the clock tick that much louder for whether he can fulfill the valuable role the Bucks have carved out for him at this stage.
Whether he will be able to is the big question that faces the Bucks in solidifying their playoff rotation. For the time being, all Bucks fans will continue to hope for Tucker to recover fully and bring the defensive edge the Bucks are seeking from him with six weeks out from the start of the postseason.