The Milwaukee Bucks finished last season with a 58-24 record and as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Milwaukee lost to the Miami Heat in five games in the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs before they made a coaching change. Out goes Mike Budenholzer, and in comes Adrian Griffin Jr.
Many people are wondering if their championship window has already closed because of an older roster. They do have one of the best players in the NBA, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and it will put them in contention because of it. One of the main questions heading into next season will be are the Milwaukee Bucks better than last season, or will they be considerably worse?
Will the Milwaukee Bucks Be Better in 2023-2024?
For next season, they will be a year older and potentially slower. The core of this team is Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, and Khris Middleton. This will also likely be the Milwaukee Bucks’ core for the foreseeable future. Some of the key role players will feature Bobby Portis Jr., Grayson Allen, Brook Lopez. Wesley Matthews, and Malik Beasley.
That is not a young basketball team by any means, and they will need to inject some youth into the lineup eventually. The Milwaukee Bucks will be a good basketball team next season, so don’t kid yourselves. They may have a ceiling of only winning 50 games, and it may be no more than that. Milwaukee is still a top-four team in the Eastern Conference.
The only team that is definitely better than them on paper heading into next season in the Eastern Conference is the Boston Celtics. There’s a lot of uncertainty with the Philadelphia 76ers because of the health of Joel Embiid and if James Harden will even come back to Philadelphia.
The Cleveland Cavaliers will only get better with Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and Evan Mobley, but they are not better than the Milwaukee Bucks yet. The New York Knicks with Jalen Brunson were better last season, and New York will be a solid team in the Eastern Conference, also not better than Milwaukee.
Also, the Brooklyn Nets and the Atlanta Hawks may not make the playoffs next season. The Miami Heat has been in the Eastern Conference Finals for the last three of four seasons, but it feels like Miami’s postseason success will drain out at some point. Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo are the core players on this basketball team. It has been emotionally draining for them, as they were the eighth seed last season in the Eastern Conference this year.
The bottom line is that the Milwaukee Bucks will not be as dominant during the regular season, but they are still going to win 50 games and potentially be a top-two seed in the Eastern Conference. Milwaukee will still be talked about as one of the favorites to win the NBA Championship. The Denver Nuggets are the defending NBA Champions, and the Milwaukee Bucks just won it all in 2021 in six games against the Phoenix Suns.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and company will look to prove the doubters wrong last season. He feels like these “failures” are steps to success in order for the Milwaukee Bucks to get back to the mountaintop.
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