Buying or selling the Milwaukee Bucks as championship contenders in the Eastern Conference.
In the Eastern Conference, most of the hype and talk has revolved around the Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers. However, there’s one other possible contender in the East that could prove to be the most dangerous: the Milwaukee Bucks.
After an early playoff exit in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season, against the Miami Heat, it’s not surprising that many are quick to discount the Bucks.
After all, Milwaukee is not at the same historic win-pace as they were before the NBA hiatus last season and didn’t do much to improve the roster overall – with the exception of adding Jrue Holiday in exchange for losing some valued depth.
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Nevertheless, as the focus remains on the upstart Sixers and star-studded Nets, I can’t help but wonder if the Bucks will emerge as the lovable dark horses in the playoffs. They have a likable star in Giannis Antetokounmpo, an underrated second option in Khris Middleton, and a do-it-all, including the dirty work, third option in Jrue Holiday.
Even though they’ve been somewhat of an afterthought to a certain extent when discussing the Eastern Conference contenders this season, the Bucks are only 2.5 games back of both the Nets and Sixers.
And perhaps somewhat of the cold water that has been dumped on Milwaukee’s hype surrounds their failure in the playoffs over the last two seasons. After all, this was a team that was overwhelmingly favored to come out of the East last season. To lose in the second round against a Heat team whose best player was Jimmy Butler was quite perplexing.
To follow that up by giving up too much in a trade for Jrue Holiday is not exactly the splash move that many had hoped – especially when Chris Paul was being shopped on the trade block, before ultimately landing with the Phoenix Suns.
That said, there are some encouraging signs from the Bucks. For one, there’s a good chance that we have yet to see the best version of this team. Holiday has only played in 39 games this season and it would be expected that he’s still finding his footing on the team, next to Giannis and Middleton.
Holiday is averaging 17 points, five rebounds, and five assists on 51 percent shooting from the field during his first season in Milwaukee.
Giannis continues to play at a high level and is averaging 29 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists on 57 percent shooting from the field. He also has a 33.92 Player Efficiency Rating, which is ranked third among qualifying players in the NBA this season.
Middleton is still playing at an exceptionally high level for a supporting player, averaging 20 points, six rebounds, and six assists per game on 49 percent shooting from the field and 43 percent shooting from 3-point range.
The Bucks are also just one of four teams that have a top 10 offense, defense, and net rating. This is a team that is trending in the right direction and one that hasn’t even played its best basketball of the season.
If that is so, there’s no question that the Bucks could emerge as a threat to knock off the highly favored Nets in the playoffs. If Giannis can sort out his playoff struggles and be the dominant playoff player that he’s been so often in the regular season, the Bucks’ chances to emerge as a true championship contender will only grow as this team grows more and more chemistry.
It should not be a surprise by any means if the Milwaukee Bucks win the Eastern Conference. Why stop there? In fact, the Bucks could win the NBA championship this season. At this point, you have to buy them as contenders this season until they give you a reason not to.