"John Salmons could be in the Milwaukee Bucks' starting lineup when they open the regular season in one week in New Orleans.

That was the encouraging word from Salmons and Bucks coach Scott Skiles on Tuesday after the 6-foot-6 shooting guard practiced for the first time since the team opened camp in late September.

Salmons had been sidelined with a sprained right knee suffered while playing in a pickup game in his hometown of Philadelphia before camp.

"I did some running and a little bit of shooting," Salmons said of his activity Tuesday at the Cousins Center. "Not a whole lot of cutting yet. Maybe do some of that tomorrow and just go from there.

"Just go day-by-day and see if the swelling goes down. It's feeling pretty good right now."

If Salmons is not ready to go in the regular-season opener, Skiles has viable options.

Carlos Delfino, the current starter at small forward, can shift to the 2 guard spot. Or Skiles could go with third-year pro Chris Douglas-Roberts, who has started all six exhibition games at shooting guard and is averaging 11.2 points.

But the Bucks coach made it clear he is hoping Salmons will be ready on Oct. 27 when the Bucks face the Hornets.

"We want John to be healthy and playing," Skiles said. "I would anticipate by then he'll be ready to play and be fine.

"It's just a question can he get any exhibition minutes and how much practice time he has leading up to that game."

Salmons said he hopes to be able to play in the Bucks' exhibition finale Friday night against Minnesota at the Bradley Center.

"The next one (Thursday against Cleveland in Columbus, Ohio) might be far-fetched, but we'll see what happens Friday," Salmons said.

Asked about playing in New Orleans, Salmons said, "Yeah, I'm very confident."

The Bucks did not practice Monday, but Salmons put in some valuable time on his own.

"He ran hard yesterday (Monday) and shot a couple hundred shots," Skiles said. "He's getting close."

Salmons said the injury occurred when he reached in for the ball and hyperextended his knee while defending in a pickup game.

Several weeks of rest were required, and the Bucks wanted to make sure that Salmons would not suffer a setback by returning too quickly.

Bucks center Andrew Bogut said he was glad to have Salmons back on the practice floor.

"It's great to see him running," Bogut said. "He's an integral part of our scoring system, especially last year when we had lapses scoring the ball. He would come in and knock down shots for us."

Salmons was signed during the off-season to a five-year contract worth as much as $39 million. The Bucks worked hard to retain him after he helped lead Milwaukee into the Eastern Conference playoffs."