On media day Sept. 30, Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers was asked if "aside from Khris Middleton," the rest of the team would be healthy and available to open training camp in Irvine, California, the next day.

After Rivers answered to the affirmative, general manager Jon Horst interjected to say, "Just to re-emphasize – Khris is doing really well. Khris had just like a normal offseason cleanup procedure. He literally is on the court right now as we’re talking and he’ll be a very active participant in camp. So Khris is also healthy."

And while Middleton had been on the court doing one-on-one and some three-on-three drills, along with individual work and skeleton offensive installation, he is not yet been healthy enough to play in a five-on-five practice.

More: 3 reasons why the Milwaukee Bucks will win the NBA title and 3 reasons they won't

In order to play on Wednesday in Philadelphia, he must do so Tuesday.

"He didn't do much today. He did some live stuff but not five-on-five," Rivers said following Monday's practice. "I think (Tuesday) we'll know for sure."

At the start of camp Rivers had been hopeful Middleton could play in the final two preseason games on Oct. 14 and 17. Then, it was perhaps just the exhibition finale in Dallas. The coach vacillated between thinking the 33-year-old forward needed to practice and did not in order to play, but the team has insisted there hasn't been any setbacks in the recovery process.

Following Monday's practice Rivers wouldn't rule out the three-time all-star from the season opener.

"If he plays five-on-five (Tuesday), then he'll probably play in the game," Rivers said. "And if he doesn't, he probably won't play in the game."

When will Khris Middleton play?

As for when Middleton might be able to join his teammates in game action, the contests come fast and furious for the Bucks in the first week of the regular season as the league once again incorporates an in-season tournament – now called the Emirates Cup – into the October-November schedule.

The Bucks open Wednesday in Philadelphia, fly back to Milwaukee to face Chicago in the home opener on Friday, then turn around to fly to New York on Saturday to take on Brooklyn on Sunday. It is the front end of a back-to-back and the start of a stretch of a four games in six days that concludes with the defending champion Boston Celtics on Monday at TD Garden.

"We have a lot of players on our team," Rivers said in a nod to the Bucks having the maximum 18 players on the roster. "I guess that's a benefit of having a thousand guys on your roster, is that when you have a guy injured you can actually still play five-on-five."

Khris Middleton injury timeline

Feb. 6: Injures left ankle when Phoenix forward Kevin Durant slid his foot under Middleton, and the Bucks' star came down on it. Middleton exited the game immediately and Durant was assessed a Flagrant 1 foul for the play. Middleton left Phoenix in a walking boot. He would miss the next 16 games recovering from the injury.

April 23: Injured right ankle when he landed on the foot of a Indiana Pacers player Pascal Siakam in the first quarter of the second game of the Bucks' first-round playoff series. Middleton slapped the court in obvious pain, but he did not miss any court time. In six games, he averaged 24.7 points on 48% shooting to go with 9.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists. He had a 42-point games and four double-doubles in the series in averaging over 38 minutes per game.

May: The left ankle was repaired surgically.

June: The right ankle was repaired surgically.

July: League sources said Middleton had already returned to doing court work.

Sept. 30: On Bucks media day, Doc Rivers felt like Middleton was looking good on the eve of training camp.

“He’ll participate in camp," the coach said. "We won’t have him doing a lot of live action coming off the surgery and all that. But all our skeleton work, our transition work, transition D, our conditioning work, he’ll be on the floor with us.

"He looks great. He’s in the gym right now as we speak working out. He’s had a terrific summer overall. Physically, he’s fit and that’s something he probably hasn’t been able to say in a while. And feels great. So we want to keep it that way."

Middleton did acknowledge that day he had not built up his wind enough to participate in the conditioning test the rest of the team had taken part in.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks wait to decide Khris Middleton's availability for 2024-25 opener