In the midst of a meaningless game between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Detroit Pistons, on the ESPN broadcast, Shams Charania dropped a bit of hopeful news for Bucks fans. He reported that Milwaukee is “optimistic” that Lillard will be cleared at some point during the playoffs. An upcoming exam will ultimately determine his clearance to play in the postseason:

This comes after this past Monday, when head coach Doc Rivers was speaking with Gale Klappa on his Courtside podcast with Bucks+. Rivers reported that Dame is making good progress in returning to action, that Lillard’s clot had gotten smaller, all while still getting in some light cardio and getting up shots in the gym. It was initially reported that Lillard had suffered deep vein thrombosis back on March 25, which will be three weeks this Tuesday. According to a certified athletic trainer I spoke to, who has 25+ years of experience, that is the typical timetable to treat a DVT, but it is dependent on the patient.

If there was a chance that Lillard would be cleared for their first-round matchup with the Indiana Pacers, it would be an incredible boost to a team that has seemingly found its stride in the final several games (today’s game notwithstanding with all the starters and major bench players out). The Bucks won the regular-season series against the Pacers 3-1, with Indiana’s lone win coming with a Tyrese Haliburton and-one corner three over Giannis in Indianapolis.

With how well the Bucks’ bench seems to be playing with Giannis, inserting Dame into a closing lineup with either Kevin Porter Jr. or Gary Trent Jr. as the other guard next to him alongside AJ Green, Bobby Portis, and Giannis could give the Pacers a lot of issues. Having four shooters around Giannis and at least three capable defenders on the other side of the ball is a lot of fun to think about. As always, we will keep you updated as we learn more about Dame’s status and where we could see the letter O back on the court for the playoffs.