By Mark Concannon
FOXSportsWisconsin.com
February 21, 2011
The fifth wheel. Dead weight. Redundant. Bucks forward Michael Redd has been classified as all of the above as he has sat out the last 13 months recovering from a second knee surgery that has limited his playing time to 51 games since the start of the 2008 season.
Superfluous yet prosperous. Redd has heard that too. He will make over $18 million in this the final year of a six-year $91 million deal, getting paid more than twice as much this season as Brandon Jennings, Carlos Delfino, Ersan Ilyasova and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute combined.
If ever there was a guy ready to play basketball again, it was Michael Redd who returned to Bucks practice today.
"It feels great," said Redd who was winded as he faced a throng of reporters at the Bucks training facility in St. Francis, immediately after taking multiple jump shots after practice had ended. "One of the happiest days of my career. To be on the court is a blessing. I told coach Skiles I kissed the court when I came back to the gym."
Redd has been working out for three hours a day over the past several months at his alma mater, Ohio State, being put through the paces, "running, jumping and cutting," by one of the top physical therapists in Columbus. Redd says he weighs 217 pounds and "hasn't been this light since college."
Redd feels that rehabbing his knee for over a year makes the joint much stronger than it was when he tried to come back from his first knee surgery after blowing out his ACL in January of 2009.
"It's stronger. You add a year compared to 41/2, 5 months, it's a big difference." Redd said he won't favor the knee once he returns to action and says he'll be "ready to rock and roll" when he's cleared by the team's medical staff.
Bucks coach Scott Skiles said Redd went through some of the "preliminary warm-up stuff" in today's practice but did not take part in any contact drills.
"He moved around pretty well," Skiles said. "It looks like he's in good shape."
Bucks center Andrew Bogut said he's hearing from the training staff that Redd could be two weeks away. Bogut said Redd could provide a spark to a team that is currently 13 games under .500 and badly needs to make a quick run to secure a playoff spot.
"It would give us an energy boost," Bogut said. "We've been struggling lately, any energy shot we can get will help us."
"We need any little thing that can help us steal some games here and there and this is more than a little thing. He's a prolific scorer he's a twenty point scorer in his NBA career so, hopefully we can get him out there."
Skiles said that with anyone trying to come back from a long layoff, it's impossible to tell when Redd may be ready to go at full speed.
"Even if you have something set down that doesn't mean that's the way it's gonna be when a guy is trying to come back like this," Skiles said. "You can have all the great plans you want and then all of a sudden something happens and there's a setback. Or it goes the other way. You realize the guy's a lot further along than you thought. The medical staff has a hold of that. I show up and they tell me who's healthy."
Skiles said Redd has been doing some light one-on-one drills with his trainer in Ohio and will do some of those here as this week progresses.
Redd said while he was happy for his teammates as they went on a tear late last season, it was tough not being part of the Bucks momentum.
"Absolutely. I'm a competitor. I've been here eleven years now. I want to be part of every success the team has and to miss last year, it stung a little bit but you continue to keep working."
Redd thanked Bucks management for allowing him to rehab in his native Columbus, surrounded by his family and friends an environment that Redd said "helped him get his mind right." And Redd feels that at long last, his body is right too.
"Feels good, no aches and no pain. I feel terrific. Just a matter of getting used to playing basketball again."
Redd says he has watched the Bucks battle through cold stretches from the perimeter and hopes the team can "knock 'em down" from the outside going forward.
While Michael was exuberant today about returning to the team being an active part of the Bucks program again, he is also looking at his long-term future. Redd, who turns 32 in August, is in the final year of his contract but not, he feels in the final year of his career.
"I trained for the last year and a half to play for the next 3,4,5 years of my career and that's what I want to do."
"This here for me is to leave the game the right way. I want to leave on my terms and not being hurt. I want to enjoy the game of basketball and finish on a great note for my career."
Redd says he has no idea what he'll be feeling when he peels off his warm-up suit and gets into a game for the first time. But he has been waiting a long time to find out and is eager for that day to finally arrive.
"Everybody knows what I can do. It's just a matter of getting me into basketball shape and playing again."
"Whatever I can do off the court on the court, I'll do it and Michael Redd's gonna play Michael Redd basketball, that's it. I can't wait to play again."
