Milwaukee Bucks Injury Report: Veteran Role Player Suffers Wrist Tear, Out Months?

Patrick Beverley's Milwaukee Bucks tenure may be cut short far sooner than he had been hoping. And it could put Milwaukee in a dire spot as the playoffs loom.

In a new appearance on his Barstool Sports show The Pat Bev Podcast With Rome, the 12-year NBA veteran and three-time All-Defensive Teamer revealed that the wrist injury he incurred could sideline him for an extended period of time. The Bucks are currently 46-26 and the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference as of this writing, but after their 128-124 double-overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers without LeBron James, the team is now just two games ahead of the third-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers and 2.5 contests ahead of the New York Knicks.

"I've got some disturbing news that I didn't really like," Beverley announced. "Talked to the doctor and he informed me that I tore a ligament in my right wrist and I'm going to need it surgically repaired, which takes three to four months."

He explained that he had imaging done that included an MRI and X-rays on the damaged ligament.

That timeline would effectively knock Beverley out through the end of the playoffs, including the NBA Finals. Beverley, however, sounds optimistic that he can either beat that projection or that he'll play through it and hold off on a surgery.

"My s*** hurts a little bit but I'm cool," he said of his pain. "It's supposed to happen right before the playoffs, it makes the story even better. [The injury happened] pre-OKC game. I still [played in] OKC... I felt a little pain, but it wasn't nothing that would [make me feel] like, 'I need to stop.'"

Beverley scored a single point, off a free throw, during his 15 minutes in that Thunder game. He shot 0-of-2 from the field, but did chip in four assists, four rebounds and two blocks while registering a +12 plus-minus in a 118-93 Bucks victory.

The 35-year-old University of Arkansas product was acquired by the Bucks in a deal that saw their previous reserve point guard, Cameron Payne, and a future second-round draft pick get shipped out to the Philadelphia 76ers. In 19 games for the Bucks this season behind All-Star Damian Lillard (two starts), Beverley is averaging 5.1 points on .344/.340/.789 shooting splits, 2.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.6 blocks across 19.6 minutes per game.

Would the Bucks opt to replace him short-term with a free agent pick-up? Players like Will Barton and recent ex-Bucks George Hill and Sterling Brown are readily available, though it's unclear just how much they have left to give for a team hoping to win it all this year.