For all the chaos this season has brought, the Milwaukee Bucks may finally be catching a break for the first time in a while. And considering how up-and-down this year has been, it’s certainly the one they needed most.
According to ESPN insider Shams Charania, Damian Lillard is progressing in his recovery, and the team believes he will be cleared to return at some point during the playoffs.
Speaking on the Pat McAfee Show, Charania said that the Milwaukee Bucks guard is "hopeful" he could be cleared for full-contact practice sometime in the next week and a half or so, while Lillard has already started doing some light workouts.
Fortunately for the Bucks faithful, Lillard's blood clot was identified early, and he began officially undergoing treatment even before he was actually diagnosed. Lillard has also been seeing his doctor weekly, and the clot has already decreased in size, which has so far left the medical staff "encouraged."
Obviously, nothing is definitive as of the moment. But there's hope, and the team is very clearly trying to get their superstar point guard back.
And in a season where nothing has come easy, that’s more than enough reason for hope. Because here’s the thing: the Milwaukee Bucks have already figured a lot out without Damian Lillard.
Dame Lillard's possible recovery in the coming weeks should create hope
Thus far, the Milwaukee Bucks have won games, tightened the defense and found unlikely contributors deep in the bench unit. They’ve made up ground, built chemistry within their closing lineup and built something that might genuinely feel sustainable in the long run.
And the biggest thing is that they’ve done it while missing the one guy brought in to make them unguardable when it matters most. In short, they're quietly positioning themselves for their best playoff run since they took the championship home in 2021.
Lillard, even through an up-and-down season, has shown what he's capable of after promising last season to make a return to his old self. In his time on the floor this season, he’s hit dagger threes, run the offense late and carried them when Giannis sat. And if he returns, even at just 85 percent of what he can be, he gives this team a dimension no other contender can match.
There’s no sugarcoating the timeline, of course: he’ll have to ramp up fast. The playoffs are unforgiving, and the Milwaukee Bucks still have to get through the Indiana Pacers without their starting point guard.
But if Damian Lillard can find his rhythm before then, the Cinderella story writes itself — a flawed but battle-tested team finding its footing, getting its star guard back and making a legitimate run at the title.
It's a long shot. It always has been. But this team was never going to win it the easy way. Lillard's return doesn’t just raise the ceiling. It brings back belief.
And for Milwaukee, that could be everything.
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