Report: Khris Middleton participated in full scrimmage, inching near return

Bucks are “hopeful” he’ll make debut after Thanksgiving

With the Milwaukee Bucks clawing their way back to a .500 record after a slow start, the one outstanding question on the top of everyone’s mind was that of Khris Middleton’s status. Per ESPN’s Shams Charania, Khris has finally cleared the hurdle of five-on-five scrimmaging on his road back to the court:

Update: We’ve got a written report on ESPN to go with the above.

A couple of observations from what Charania shared. First, we should remind folks that the vaunted five-on-five practice was a target both the Bucks and Middleton were working towards prior to having Khris take the floor. He had taken part in drills and three-on-three scrimmages, but hadn’t yet felt comfortable enough to move into fuller practice with the rest of the team.

Second, while Charania’s report does give a clearer timeline the verbiage used was that the team was “hopeful” on the post-Thanksgiving debut. As we’ve previously written on the site in recent Middleton updates, the Bucks have been content to take a patient approach and wait until Khris himself feels ready to play. I make that note merely to clarify that we do not yet have a firm return date and not to contradict the reporting. This Saturday’s home tilt against the Washington Wizards might be a promising place for Middleton to take his first steps of the season, but until we officially hear it from the team we shouldn’t circle a particular date in permanent ink just yet.

Overall, though, this is good news and a tangible step in the right direction for a player whose role as a balancer on both ends of the floor has been missed. The Bucks have done well to take advantage of a lightening of their schedule to recover from a 2-8 start; they may really start hitting their stride once Middleton is a regular feature in the rotation.

We’ll keep an eye out for more updates and continue wishing Khris a strong recovery!