The 44-24 Milwaukee Bucks, now ranked second in the Eastern Conference, will be without one of its All-NBA players against the No. 1-seeded Boston Celtics, who are 54-14, 10 slots ahead of the Bucks, and appear to have the conference’s first seed sealed up. Milwaukee, despite being seeded second, has had a turbulent season. After the team traded All-Star combo guard Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers in the summer for All-NBA superstar point guard Damian Lillard, fans and pundits alike ignored Lillard’s age and defensive shortcomings while raising their expectations of Milwaukee’s potential to be legitimate title contenders.
However, the Bucks added Lillard late, after they had supposedly finished their summer deals. Milwaukee had made a number of moves to reinvest in its 30-year-old incumbent starters, Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez. Middleton has scarcely been able to see the court in recent seasons, so paying him at least $93 million (up to $102.2 million with incentives) over three years was always a risk. Lopez, on the other hand, has remained the surprisingly durable 3-and-D stretch five option for all but one of the team’s six seasons. The Bucks re-signed reserve forward Jae Crowder and acquired now-starting shooting guard Malik Beasley on minimum contracts.
Milwaukee gave up a lot of perimeter defence by dumping Holiday and Grayson Allen late in the season to get an ageing Lillard. The team also hired Adrian Gryphon as its first head coach. The Lillard and Gryphon acquisitions appeared to motivate superstar Bucks power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who signed a three-year, $175.9 million contract deal in late October.
Griffin’s Coach of the Year case broke apart swiftly. The Bucks’ once-vaunted wing defence deteriorated year after year, owing in large part to the club’s starting lineup of Lillard and Malik Beasley, who aren’t exactly stopping anyone. Milwaukee eventually parted ways with Gryphon in January and hired Doc Rivers, a seasoned Eastern Conference head coach who appeared to be enjoying his vacation time as a commentator and podcaster.
