Everyone in the NBA recognizes the Milwaukee Bucks as a dangerous basketball team that can put pressure on any team they face in the regular season and the playoffs. While their latest postseason foray ended in a disappointing defeat to the Indiana Pacers, they’re still considered one of the premier title contenders in the Eastern Conference.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard are a big reason behind fans and analysts backing the Bucks to make a deep postseason run. The two stars are nearly unstoppable whenever they’re in full health, and opposing coaches constantly have a headache in finding defensinve schemes that could contain the duo.
While the rest of the squad has the potential to help the two stars make a deep playoff run, one analyst believes that there’s one fact about their roster that should raise red flags among the Bucks fandom.
Analyst thinks the aging core of the Milwaukee Bucks is a noose on the team’s championship hopes
NBC Sports’ Kurt Helin wrote about the Bucks’ chances about the team’s championship window. While he admits that the Bucks have one of the best core players in the NBA on paper, the roster’s overall age is putting a huge question mark on their championship potential:
• Damian Lillard is 34 and is coming off a rough season by his standards (on and off the court), plus the history of small guards in their 30s is not a good precedent.
• Brook Lopez is 36 and appears to have lost a step.
• Khris Middleton is 33 and had offseason surgery on both ankles.
• New additions Delon Wright and Taurean Prince are also on the other side of 30. This team is older and not very deep.
The Bucks’ decision to rely on experience to overwhelm opponents in a league where athleticism reigns supreme is a dangerous one in today’s NBA. While experiene can make up for a lack of athleticism, praying that none of these players get hit by a long-term injury is putting a huge gamble on the team’s title hopes.
There have been talks of trades over the offseason to inject youth to the team’s core, but the coaching staff and front office decided to stick with the core they’ve built.
If everything goes well in terms of the injury department, the Bucks will be one of the most terrifying teams in the league. But if even one of the team’s elder statesmen goes out with a season-ending injury, heads will roll in the coaching staff and front office.
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