Milwaukee Bucks 2024-25 season preview: How far can Giannis and an getting older core go?
The 2024-25 NBA season is right here! We’re breaking down the most important questions, best- and worst-case eventualities, and fantasy outlooks for all 30 groups. Get pleasure from!
MILWAUKEE BUCKS
2023-24 end
Offseason strikes
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Additions: Gary Trent Jr., Taurean Prince, Delon Wright, A.J. Johnson, Tyler Smith
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Subtractions: Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Jae Crowder, Danilo Gallinari, Thanasis Antetokounmpo
The Large Query: Does depth remedy Milwaukee’s woes?
Final season was a catastrophe. The Milwaukee Bucks employed first-time head coach Adrian Griffin, fired him a number of months later and by some means completed with a a lot worse document beneath his alternative, Doc Rivers.
It was not simply teaching that stored the 2021 NBA champions from successful a playoff sequence for the second straight season. Damian Lillard didn’t arrive in Milwaukee till the daybreak of final season’s coaching camp. When he did, he was in “the worst form I’ve ever been,” coping with “the toughest transition of my life.” Because of this, he and Giannis Antetokounmpo spent the season in the hunt for a chemistry that by no means got here.
In the meantime, Lillard, Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton have been all coming into their mid-30s in numerous phases of decline, and the Bucks had no depth to help them. Issues obtained worse when Antetokounmpo suffered a left calf pressure, maybe from carrying too nice a load. It was a recipe for catastrophe, they usually made it effectively.
The Bucks are pot dedicated to their 4 present and former All-Stars. The $152 million they owe to Antetokounmpo, Lillard, Middleton and Lopez left them with nothing however minimal offers to supply in free company. Bucks GM Jon Horst did effectively to spherical out the rotation, touchdown Gary Trent Jr., Taurean Prince and Delon Wright, every of whom can contribute playoff minutes. Trent is first in line for a beginning job.
Flip again the clock to 2021, then, proper? Not so quick. Lillard, MIddleton and Lopez should not getting any youthful. Middleton, 33, is the youngest of the trio, and he wanted offseason surgical procedure to each his ankles. He can be restricted in coaching camp, identical as final season, when he was rehabbing from knee surgical procedure.
As for the chemistry between Antetokounmpo and Lillard, that no less than must be higher … RIGHT?
Giannis Antetokounmpo stated him and Damian Lillard weren’t in a position to get collectively this offseason, however they talked frequently all through the summer season.
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) September 30, 2024
Oh.
Perhaps a full coaching camp beneath Rivers can be sufficient for Antetokounmpo and Lillard to good their pick-and-roll partnership and construct chemistry with a revamped rotation, even when Middleton’s absence provides one other wrinkle. In any case, Antetokounmpo is among the three greatest gamers within the NBA. He averaged a 30-12-7 on higher than 60% capturing from the sector final season. He can masks plenty of points on any roster.
What that has meant the previous two seasons is a first-round playoff exit, and that’s unacceptable. Overlook chemistry issues. Why ought to we consider issues will get higher when an previous workforce has gotten older?
It can’t be overstated how a lot the Bucks anticipated final season from Jae Crowder, Patrick Beverley and Danilo Gallinari, none of whom is within the NBA any longer. It seems you can not simply gather a bunch of cast-offs and kind a playoff-caliber bench. This time, they focused match over flashy names. Trent, Prince and Wright shot a mixed 39.2% on 12.4 3-point makes an attempt per recreation final season.
The incoming trio additionally improves the workforce’s versatility on the defensive finish, the place Milwaukee rated under common final season. How a lot the fifth, sixth and seventh males can meaningfully enhance the defensive unit stays to be seen. They need to no less than assist the Bucks win regular-season video games.
However there isn’t a basketball world the place a trio of minimum-salaried additions by itself transforms a workforce that did not win a playoff sequence into one that may win 4 rounds. They’ll contribute to a contender, however they can’t be its catalyst. Antetokounmpo, Lillard, Middleton and Lopez should seize these reins. Solely considered one of them is squarely in his prime, and he has not been wholesome in two postseasons.
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Greatest-case state of affairs
When Antetokounmpo is wholesome, he’s a monster, ferociously attacking the rim, and that’s paramount. Nothing works with out him. Lillard grows extra snug together with his existence in Milwaukee and reverts to All-NBA kind. Trent, Prince and Wright inject vitality and stability into the roster, permitting Middleton to take his time to return. Lopez anchors them at an All-Defensive stage. And nonetheless we’re uncertain if they will beat the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks or Philadelphia 76ers; however they’ve a shot at any of them.
If every thing falls aside
If Antetokounmpo can not get a deal with on the elevated accidents to his left leg, Milwaukee is toast. Allow us to set that apart for a second. The Bucks’ title likelihood is in bother if Lillard’s All-NBA days are behind him, if Middleton’s All-Star days are behind him or if Lopez’s All-Defensive days are behind him. If a kind of issues is true, it will likely be tough to persuade anybody that this model of the Bucks can contend at any level sooner or later. And if that’s the case, does Antetokounmpo query his future in Milwaukee?
Fantasy spin
Giannis Antetkounmpo comes with warts in class codecs, however he is a top-4 possibility for factors leagues. Damian Lillard completed exterior the highest 24 for the primary time in a decade, so count on him to bounce again after a complete offseason to coach, relaxation and get better with out exterior distractions.
Brook Lopez’s age is catching up with him, so he is a simple fade for me at his present ADP. One participant to observe for within the later rounds is Bobby Portis Jr. Portis’ utilization price eclipsed 25% beneath Doc Rivers and he ranked 79th in per-game worth over the season’s last three months. — Dan Titus
2024-25 schedule
Too many issues need to go proper. Take the beneath.
