3 Milwaukee Bucks under a microscope following the 2023 All-Star break

3 Milwaukee Bucks under a microscope following the 2023 All-Star break – Bobby Portis

Prior to suffering a sprained MCL on January 23, Bobby Portis was possibly playing his way to a Sixth Man of The Year Award season. Despite missing those 11 games, Portis still leads the NBA in double-doubles off the bench with 19, per StatMuse.

Even while going 11-0 since his absence, there have been many moments throughout games where Portis has been clearly missed. Portis has been a key player for the Bucks this season particularly with his rebounding off the bench. This season, Portis is averaging a career-high in rebounding with 10.1 per game, including a career-high of 2.6 offensive rebounds per game. That offensive rebound statistic shows just how hard the big man has been hustling this season.

Portis’ return not only provides the Bucks with needed size in the paint but also provides another outside shooting threat as well. Even with a slight dip in 3-point percentage from a year ago, Portis still posts a career average of 37 percent from 3-point range, which makes him a viable threat from the outside as a floor spacer for Giannis Antetokounmpo. It will be interesting to see how Bobby’s mobility will look like coming back from that sprained MCL on the defensive end. However, I think many Bucks fans like myself are fired up for his return to the court.