The Milwaukee Bucks will enter the 2024-25 NBA season as realistic title contenders for the sixth consecutive year, barring a triumph in 2021. However, it has also been plagued by disappointments, including two consecutive first-round exits in the last two years.
Doc River is hosting his first training camp as the Bucks’ head coach, and star point guard Damian Lillard has a full season under his belt, so there’s reason to believe this team is poised to make its deepest championship run since that championship summer.
To upset the Boston Celtics, the defending Eastern Conference champions, the team must answer the following critical questions: Can Doc Rivers unlock Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo?
You could argue that the Bucks hired Doc Rivers, one of the most successful coaches in the NBA, solely to get the best out of Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Adrian Griffin was fired after 43 games, and Rivers immediately began working to make both stars more comfortable with each other.
The Bucks showed flashes of their potential tardy in the season. However, lack of training time and an injury confined what could be done. Now that both players have had a season of playing time together, a summer of communication and a full camp under Rivers, they are expected to get right to work.
Rivers is not everything. Giannis Antetokounmpo needs to control the game more often, execute his moves after the rebound and improve his short-range skills. Damian Lillard will need to facilitate Antetokounmpo get closer to his preferred spots and establish a rhythm with his passing. However, Rivers can adjust minutes and lineups to best fit the tandem and get them to start clicking.
Is Jon Horst’s team good enough?
The Bucks have been competitive every summer, thanks in vast part to their starting four of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez and Damian Lillard. Bobby Portis emerged as a solid candidate for Sixth Man of the Year, and Pat Connaughton was an excellent backup. However, injuries to some of these stars over the past three seasons have highlighted shortcomings in roster design, particularly the reliance on older veterans working on free agency contracts.
Only two of the dozen or so NBA veterans 31 and older signed in 2021 secured another full-year contract after previously playing for the Bucks: Wesley Matthews and Joe Ingles. Younger veterans signed with the organization, such as Rodney Hood, Semi Ojeleye and DeAndre Bembry, never played in the league after joining the Bucks
Of course, time will tell how the novel trio will fit into Rivers’ rotation, but the Bucks need to perform well if they are to return to the conference finals. Can Bucks star players stay robust?
It’s a yes or no question that won’t be answered until the end of the season, but unfortunately it’s the most pressing issue facing this team.
Since winning the championship (during which the team lost point guard Donte DiVincenzo in the playoffs and Antetokounmpo in two games in the Eastern Conference finals), the team’s studs have been plagued by injuries:
Brook Lopez underwent spine surgery 2021-22which forced him to miss 69 regular season games. Although he returned for the playoffs, it was obvious that the rust had not completely worn off (21% three-pointers, 49% shooting). Middleton slipped on a damp patch in the first round and injured his knee, forcing him out of the second-round series against Boston.
IN 2022-23Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a back injury after being hit by Miami’s Kevin Love. He was unable to play in Games 1, 2 and 3, and was severely confined in Games 4 and 5. Middleton played in all five games, but was crippled enough to require knee surgery after the season. Wesley Matthews also missed three games with a calf problem.
IN 2023-24Giannis Antetokounmpo missed all six games against Indiana with a calf strain, while Lillard missed two games and was hampered in Game 6 by a strained Achilles tendon. And although Middleton had a fantastic series, he required multiple ankle surgeries after the playoffs after stepping on an opponent’s feet.
Can the Milwaukee Bucks threaten the Boston Celtics in the East?
The uncomplicated answer is yes. Milwaukee is a good fit for Boston, despite the fact that the Celtics’ standout combination of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum is younger.
First of all, the Celtics don’t have an answer for Antetokounmpo. In fact, the last time we saw Antetokounmpo robust in the series, he turned in one of his best performances in the 2022 playoffs, and Boston had Marcus Smart, Grant Williams and Robert Williams keeping him together with Al Horford. If Antetokounmpo is at full strength, the Celtics will have nothing for him.
On a bigger level, the Celtics are unlikely to repeat that, as no team has won consecutive championships since the Golden State Warriors in 2017-18. In Boston, Tatum, Holiday and Derrick White joined Team USA to compete in the Olympics after the season. Kristaps Porzingis underwent foot surgery in tardy June and will miss a significant start to the year. Al Horford is 38 years venerable. The Celtics will certainly be very good again, but they have a tough path to repeating the opportunity – not to mention having to beat the Bucks.
Will Doc Rivers play with younger players?
AJ Green became a rotation player under Rivers, playing approximately 15 minutes in each game at the end of the season. Andre Jackson Jr. he played less under Rivers than he did under Griffin, but the defenseman has the defensive and playmaking skills (as well as athleticism) that the team can employ in certain situations.
MarJon Beauchamp is entering his third year of his career, so you might think he’s ready to get more playing time in his career. Chris Livingston told the Journal Sentinel that he hopes to gain a few more minutes this season as a sophomore, but he knows his senior opportunities will be confined. Freshmen AJ Johnson and Tyler Smith are certainly developing players at this point.
The team’s expectation and goal is to win the championship this year. This is Rivers’ responsibility. Perhaps a combination of adolescent players can facilitate the Bucks win games in the regular season and advance to a higher league, but when it comes to the playoffs, it seems the emphasis will – and should – be on the veterans.
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