Milwaukee Bucks guard Pat Connaughton is expected to undergo surgery Monday to repair a fractured fourth metacarpal on his right hand, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. There's no timeline for Connaughton's return, but he's expected to get back on the court before the end of the regular season, per Wojnarowski.
Connaughton suffered the injury in Thursday night's matchup against the Phoenix Suns. He exited in the third quarter of the game, and didn't return. The injury happened with 3:40 remaining in the third quarter, when Connaughton was guarding Suns guard Chris Paul on a drive to the basket. After fouling Paul, Connaughton was seen holding the injured hand and headed to the locker room.
After the game, Bucks forward Khris Middleton expressed sympathy for Connaughton, while addressing how important he is to the team's success.
"I really didn't even notice it until I saw his hand in the cast after the game, so very unfortunate, man," Middleton said. "He's one of our biggest guys, especially off the bench. He plays a huge and key role for us coming into the starting lineup every now and then, just being that glue guy for us on both sides of the ball. It's going to be tough without him for a while, but hopefully, he can get back sooner rather than later."
Losing Connaughton is a tough loss for a Bucks team that just traded away Donte DiVincenzo to the Sacramento Kings at Thursday's deadline. Without DiVincenzo and now Connaughton, Milwaukee's depth at the guard position is getting thinner, which should make them aggressive in the buyout market.
It's been reported that they're interested in veteran guard Goran Dragic who is expected to be bought out by the San Antonio Spurs after being traded there by the Toronto Raptors. With the loss of Connaughton, Milwaukee's pursuit of Dragic is expected to be "aggressive," per Wojnarowski.