After missing eight games with a calf strain, Giannis Antetokounmpo is expected to return to the Bucks lineup Saturday night against the Chicago Bulls.
Antetokounmpo is listed as questionable. He will play if he clears pregame testing after warming up, reports Eric Nehn of The Athletic.
Milwaukee went 2-6 in the eight games Antetokounmpo missed, falling to 12-19 on the season and 11th in the Eastern Conference, outside even the play-in. That has only fueled trade rumors swirling around Antetokounmpo, although he has yet to formally request a trade, and the Bucks are telling teams they are looking to add talent around the two-time MVP and not trade him away.
Antetokounmpo’s calf injury came just four games after he returned from a left adductor strain.
“Maybe it was a mistake of me coming back a little bit earlier, because once I come back, now you’re overcompensating,” Antetokounmpo said of coming back after that adductor injury, via the Associated Press. “The only way you can pop your soleus is by overcompensating and then having an extreme amount of load or play a lot of games in a short period of time. Again, I think all of the things that I was thinking and trying to come back led to the incident that I had with my soleus.”
Antetokounmpo has played like an MVP when he has been on the court this season, averaging 28.9 points, 10.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game. Milwaukee is 9-8 in games Antetokounmpo has played in this season and is banking on his return to vault them back into the playoff picture in a wide-open East.