Greivis Vasquez may have already played his last game for the Milwaukee Bucks.
The 28-year-old point guard, whom the Bucks acquired in an offseason trade with the Toronto Raptors, hasn’t played in a game since late November while nursing an ankle injury that, per Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, officially required surgery:
#Bucks announce G Greivis Vasquez underwent right ankle surgery to remove bone spur. Team did not give recovery period.
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) December 16, 2015
Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel then came bearing a timetable, and it isn’t pretty:
Bucks coach Jason Kidd said Vasquez recovery period is 3 to 4 months. He did not rule him out to return but 4 months would be mid-April.
— cfgardner (@cf_gardner) December 16, 2015
Four months would put Vasquez out through mid April, and with the way the Bucks are playing now, as a bottom-five offensive and defensive team, they won’t be playing for anything in mid-to-late April. They might not be playing at all. Their last game, a Wednesday night dance with the Indiana Pacers, is slated for April 13.
In the meantime—or rather, for the rest of this season—the Bucks will have to turn elsewhere for point guard depth. Michael Carter-Williams still cannot shoot, and Jerryd Bayless is more of an undersized 2. Unless they’re planning on making a midseason trade, or prepared to deploy Giannis Antetokounmpo at point guard almost full-time, the Bucks will finally need to give sophomore Tyler Ennis some burn.
As for Vasquez, he left his three-point touch in Toronto, but just the idea of his career 35.1 percent clip from downtown would help the Bucks’ floor spacing. And if he’s done for the season, there’s a solid chance he’s in Milwaukee for good. He’s an unrestricted free agent this summer, and it’s unclear whether the Bucks will be interested in bringing him back to help direct what was a bottom-feeding offense with him.
