After missing the past five games, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Dennis Schroder returned to the bubble Monday night and is currently going through the league-mandated quarantine.
"He's quarantining right now," Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. "Any time a player comes back into the bubble, those are going to be things left up to the league and their discretion in terms of things Dennis will have to go through to get out of quarantine and get back to playing."
If Schroder's quarantine is the minimum four days and he is cleared, he could be eligible to play as early as Friday in the Thunder's seeding finale against the LA Clippers. Donovan, though, didn't want to commit to a timetable on Schroder's return.
"I don't know that," he said. "I don't have any indication yes or no."
A leading candidate for Sixth Man of the Year, Schroder departed the bubble on Aug. 3 to be with his wife for the birth of their second child. Schroder has been a critical element to the Thunder's success this season and his absence was felt in the five games he was out.
Schroder, 26, is averaging 18.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists.
The Thunder had a mix of players sitting out in their last game against the Phoenix Suns, including Steven Adams, who missed two games because of a leg injury, but everyone is available to play against the Miami Heat on Wednesday.
"If there is anything I'm looking for it's just can we keep moving to a pattern of consistency," Donovan said. "These games for us, we'll see how it all plays out in terms of seeding, but I think for us it's much more important we get into a good rhythm of playing well with one another. Sometimes that's hard to do when you don't have all your players together."
The Thunder currently sit fifth in the West, a game behind the Houston Rockets for fourth and a game ahead of the Utah Jazz for sixth, but have been somewhat inconsistent in the bubble with a 3-3 record.
