UVA alum Malcolm Brogdon ROY push gets boost from sidelines?

The NBA Rookie of the Year candidacy of UVA alum Malcolm Brogdon is getting an odd boost.

Oddly, the Bucks’ struggles since Brogdon was sidelined with lower back soreness might show his value as much as what he’s done down the playoff stretch run for Milwaukee.

Brogdon (10.3 points per game, 4.3 rebounds per game, 45.7 percent shooting/40.4 percent from three) has missed Milwaukee’s last three games, including back-to-back losses, a 109-105 loss to Dallas and last night’s 110-79 blowout at OKC.

Bucks coach Jason Kidd didn’t offer reporters a timetable on when Brogdon might be able to rejoin the team, which is currently in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, a half-game ahead of Atlanta, two clear of Chicago and Indiana and two and a half up on ninth-place Miami, with four games left in the regular season.

Before the injury, Brogdon, a 2016 UVA alum, had been playing some of his best basketball as a pro, averaging 12.6 points and 5.1 assists while shooting 51.7 percent from the field in a nine-game stretch that saw Milwaukee go 7-2.