The Milwaukee Bucks find themselves in an odd situation considering public opinion of them as championship contenders. They have what it takes to make a deep run into the playoffs given the lineup the front office put together in the offseason. It would be tough for opposing coaches to keep a lineup that included Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.
However, analysts and fans do not view the Bucks as perennial title contenders compared to their Eastern Conference peers. Their exclusion from the league’s Christmas games this year shows that even Adam Silver doesn’t see Milwaukee as a team that even the most casual fans should pay attention to.
There are many reasons why the Bucks are not considered the clear favorites. The age and health of their core players is a earnest problem. Another likely reason is the lack of significant signings in free agency. Another cause for concern is Lillard’s inability to maximize production.
Regardless of what happened last season, Milwaukee Bucks fans are hoping for better things from their team in the 2024-2025 season. The team’s general manager even went further and spoke about the team’s championship chances during the team’s media day.
Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Hurst discusses the team’s chances in Damian Lillard’s second season
During the team’s media day, general manager Jon Hurst talked about the development of the team’s roster in year two of the Antetokounmpo-Lillard experiment. He explained that he expected the team to play much better than last spring.
For Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: :
“I think as we do every year, but even more so this offseason, we took a deep and critical look at our team to see what we could improve. I think the balance of this squad and the talent of this squad makes us feel like we’ve improved. I think the key things, maybe more generally, that we talked about in some draft settings were catch-and-shoot ability, positional size, guys who are either in great shape or close to it, guys who can really defend and defend physically , and also be a defensive playmaker. I think we did the best we could with the places we had.
Lillard has had a disappointing run his first season in a Bucks uniform. The 34-year-old defenseman averaged 24.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game. His shooting percentage has also dropped noticeably (42%/35%/92%) compared to his percentages last season with the Portland Trail Blazers (46%/37%/91%).
If Lillard and the rest of Hurst’s players added to the lineup as expected, it wouldn’t be strange if the Milwaukee Bucks reached the NBA Finals and saw a content Giannis Antetokounmpo reject suitors like the Golden State Warriors.
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