Continuity for the win!
That’s the picture the Milwaukee Bucks are trying to paint heading into training camp. Giannis Antetokounmpo is back and healthy, Damian Lillard is more comfortable and settled, and Doc Rivers will have a full training camp as coach, and this team is ready to contend.
However, look closely at that picture and it appears Father Time is walking over and closing the championship window on this team. Maybe it’s already closed, but if it’s still open it may not be in a year.
That’s a harsh thing to say about a team with Antetokounmpo, a top three player on the planet in his prime, a force of nature on both ends of the court who glides past players as he drives the lane, loves the new physicality allowed in the league, and has proven he can be the best player on a championship team.
However, Father Time remains undefeated and the combination of age and injury history piles the pressure on this team — Milwaukee is getting old fast. Look at the questions this team faces:
• 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.
Despite all those concerns, Milwaukee enters this season as a legitimate title contender, and with the continuity they lacked a season ago. However, this roster has no margin for error and a ticking clock — it feels like a must-win season for the Bucks. Other teams around the league know that and are watching, waiting to see if the ultra-competitive Antetokounmpo becomes frustrated and might want out.
We’re a long way from that — Antetokounmpo signed an extension with the team a year ago — and for Bucks fans there are plenty of reasons to be positive:
• Giannis Antetokounmpo. If he had been healthy a season ago, they likely would have beaten the Pacers and advanced out of the first round (and who knows how far). Antetokounmpo has played in three playoff games across the past two seasons (both first-round exits), get him to the playoffs healthy and things look different.
• Damian Lillard is poised for a bounce-back season, one where he is more comfortable next to Antetokounmpo in Rivers’ system. He may never get back to being peak 2017-19 Lillard, but he can (and I expect will) be better.
• Continuity not drama — especially no mid-season coaching changes. Whatever one thinks of the firing of Adrian Griffin and if it was deserved, the entire situation was disruptive. Whatever one thinks of Doc Rivers, he’s a steady NBA coach with a system and who is good at smoothing egos. Just having him all season settles things down.
• Gary Trent Jr. is an upgrade from Malik Beasley. Jon Horst and the Bucks front office had a strong offseason in terms of putting better depth and role players around the core. Trent Jr. was a steal, and Prince and Wright will add needed depth.
That all sounds good — if everything goes right. In an East where Boston is established as elite and both Philadelphia and New York upgraded to challenge them, Milwaukee needs things to break their way to join that conversation.
The Bucks title hopes are built on a simple premise: Antetokounmpo and Lillard will be one of the elite duos in the league.
They absolutely can be… but for how long?
Which is why the window feels like it’s closing, and the pressure is on the Bucks to win and win big this year.
