NBA Pretender or Contender: What title favorites have a real chance to win it all?
By Matt Sidney
Milwaukee Bucks (42-24): Pretender
This one is going to pain me. This team is the trickiest team out there. For the sake of this exercise, I am going to keep this breakdown very brief.
The defense is getting better under head coach Doc Rivers, but it still has a very good chance of being exposed come playoff time. Doc Rivers' play calling is notoriously horrendous in the playoffs. Giannis and Dame are relied upon too much. Khris Middleton doesn't look like himself. Brook Lopez doesn't offer much outside of shot-blocking and outside shooting.
For these reasons, we unfortunately and rather begrudgingly are putting the Bucks as pretenders here. This team just hasn't felt like the one from 2021. The Bucks are pretenders and will have to wait for next season to further build the team into the Championship contender it has the potential to be.