Fresh off their NBA Cup Championship victory over the OKC Thunder, the Milwaukee Bucks are back in action against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.
One player who will not be on the floor, though, is Damian Lillard. The star guard is listed as out on the injury report due to a calf strain. Lillard had been bothered by his calf leading up to the title game, but he certainly didn't want to miss that matchup, given what was on the line. Now, Milwaukee's lead guard is set to miss at least one game, the door is open for depth to step up.
Bucks guards Rollins, Wright should be ready to hear their names called
The Milwaukee Bucks have experimented at the backup point guard position quite a bit this season. They started with Delon Wright, went to Ryan Rollins, went back to Wright and have not been using either since Khris Middleton's return, as he's basically served as the primary backup ball-handler. Now, with Damian Lillard out, one or both of these guards will likely leap back into the rotation.
Both players have their own desirable factors.
For Rollins, he fit seamlessly into Milwaukee's youth movement when it was in its infant stage, and he has the defensive chops to give this team another strong perimeter defender. His offense was often hot and cold, but that wasn't surprising from a young player logging some of the first legitimate time of his NBA career. At 22, there is plenty of untapped potential with Ryan Rollins.
The big question mark with Rollins is his health. In the middle of his best outing of the season, he took a hard fall and suffered a shoulder injury on November 12. He has played just four minutes since then. Surgery was on the table for Rollins, but he has bypassed it in an effort to play through it. It's unclear just how much this is impacting the guard, but this could be his chance to get back on the court.
On the other side of the coin, the Bucks have Wright, the experienced veteran. While he is currently having his least productive season to date, the guard has actually played solid defense, especially in his second stint as the backup. Rivers seems to trust him, so it wouldn't be surprising if he even got the start to give the Bucks a legitimate point guard in Damian Lillard's place against Cleveland.
It will be interesting to see how Doc Rivers switches things up in Damian Lillard's absence.
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