The Milwaukee Bucks have high expectations
Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks will have many eyes watching them this season. The team looks to repeat their success in the 2020-21 season. With a healthier roster than last season, the Bucks should go further than the second round of the playoffs in 2022-23.
John Schuhmann of NBA.com published this season’s results of the NBA general manager survey. It appears the Bucks are a favorite to win the NBA title this season. Forty-three percent of league general managers picked the Bucks to win the NBA finals. The defending champion Golden State Warriors are the next highest team on the list at twenty-five percent.
In last season’s NBA App GM Survey, the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks were not the favorite to repeat. Instead, the favorite was the Brooklyn Nets — the team that had just lost to the Bucks in Game 7 of the conference semifinals.
This year, the Bucks lost in Game 7 of the conference semis. Now they’re the title favorite for the first time in the 21-year history of the GM Survey.
They’re not an overwhelming favorite, though. In fact, this is just the third time in the last 13 years that no team has received at least 50% of the GM’s votes to win the title. The Golden State Warriors, LA Clippers and Boston Celtics also received multiple votes from the league’s decision-makers.
While the Eastern Conference appears to be stronger than it’s been in the last 20 years, GMs see more parity in the West, where nine different teams received votes (and all nine received multiple votes) to finish in the top four. While the Bucks received 72% of the GM’s votes to win the East, the Warriors and Clippers tied atop the West, each garnering 48% of the votes.
Bucks players are predicted to do well
The team should do well this season. The Bucks are easily the most robust roster in the Eastern Conference if healthy. Their big man is the main reason why. Giannis is considered the second most likely player to win MVP this season behind Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks. What’s interesting about that prediction was that fifty-five percent of general managers said they’d take Giannis if they were starting an NBA franchise and could take any player in the league.
Jrue Holiday received votes for his defensive skills. He came in second for the most votes in the category of perimeter defense. The number one choice was Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics.
Milwaukee Bucks need to prove these predictions right
The Bucks have the talent to prove these general managers right. Now it’s up to the team to perform to these expectations. The Bucks have a major advantage with Giannis, arguably the best player in the NBA. Head coach Mike Budenholzer appears to be sending the right messages to his team in the preseason about defense. If the Bucks have a dominant defense this season, an NBA Finals appearance is the floor.