Milwaukee Bucks Excited For Upcoming Season

By: Melo Williams 

The NBA 2023-24 regular season has officially tipped off and I don’t think there’s a fanbase around the NBA that’s more excited about this season than the Milwaukee Bucks fans for a few reasons.

The latest and most exciting news surrounding the Bucks is that superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo agreed to a three-year, $186 million maximum contract extension with the Bucks, including a player option on the 2027-2028 season.

Over a month ago, Antetokounmpo startled Bucks fans when he released a statement saying he wouldn’t sign the extension until it was time but before signing he had to be sure the Bucks organization from ownership to the last player on the roster was on the same page as he was about sacrificing to the commitment it takes to win a NBA championship.

A month later news broke, that Milwaukee won the Damian Lillard sweepstakes in a three-team trade by trading All-Star guard Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers for superstar Damian Lillard. The Bucks also lost Grayson Allen, one of their best three-point shooters in the Dame trade to the Phoenix Suns. Phoenix sent Deandre Ayton to Portland with Portland also getting 1st round picks from Milwaukee to complete the trade.

Milwaukee Bucks have Giannis and Dame locked under contract for at least the next four years.

Giannis Antetokounmpo:
2023-24: $45.6M
2024-25: $48.7M
2025-26: $57.6M
2026-27: $62.2M
2027-28: $66.8M (PO)

Damian Lillard:
2023-24: $45.6M
2024-25: $48.7M
2025-26: $58.5M
2026-27: $63.2M (PO)

The Milwaukee Bucks fired Mike Budenholzer and hired Adrian Griffin as head coach.

Griffin, became the 17th head coach in franchise history, bringing 15 seasons of NBA coaching experience with him to the Bucks, most recently spending the last five seasons as an assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors.

“Adrian is a widely-respected coach and former player, who brings great leadership and experience to our team,” said Bucks general manager Jon Horst. “His championship-level coaching pedigree, character, basketball acumen, and ability to connect with and develop players make him the ideal choice to lead our team. He has earned this opportunity.”

Griffin spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Oklahoma City Thunder from 2016-18. He also had stops as an assistant with the Orlando Magic (2015-16), Chicago Bulls (2010-15), and the Bucks (2008-10). In Griffin’s 15 seasons as an assistant coach, he was part of 11 playoff teams, and two Conference Finals appearances, along with winning an NBA title with the Raptors in 2019.

“I’m incredibly honored and grateful to Wes, Jamie, Dee, Jimmy, and Jon to be named the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks,” said Griffin. “The Bucks are a championship organization and I’m thrilled to work with an established roster of high character and talented players. I’m excited to be back in Milwaukee and I can’t wait to get started.”

Well, that time is here and it’s time to get started. If we’re looking at Coach Griffin’s resume as an assistant coach to project what we could expect from Adrian Griffin teams this season then the defense will most likely be the Buck’s true identity.

As an assistant coach with the Raptors, Toronto finished in the league’s top 10 of both defensive rating and fewest points allowed per game in four of his five seasons, including in 2019-20 when they allowed a league-low 106.5 points per game.

The Bucks had a 111.9 defensive rating last season. Averaged 48.6 rebounds, 6.4 steals, and 4.9 blocks per game. Though Jrue Holiday is gone and he contributed to a lot of what the Bucks did well defensively, I feel Milwaukee will average around the same numbers as last season. It might be a slight drop-off in steals if anything besides that the Bucks will get after it collectively as a team defensively.

Under Griffin, I expect the Bucks to remain one of the best defensive teams in the NBA.

Offensively Milwaukee averaged 116.9 points and 25.8 assists per game, shot 47.3% from the field and 36.8% from the three.

Now adding Damian Lillard to that already high-powered offense, the Bucks will also be one of the best teams in the league this season. I expect to see a lot of pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop action with Milwaukee this season centered around the decision-making and play-making abilities of Dame.

The most important key to winning it all, though, relies on the health of the players. The core group is older with miles on the body.

Khris Middleton at age 32-years-olds played 33 regular-season games last year.

Brook Lopez is 35 and two years removed from back surgery but was surprisingly healthy last season.

Damian Lillard is 33 and played 58 and 29 games the past two seasons due to injuries.

Antetokounmpo got injured in the first round of the playoffs last year and wasn’t healthy in the playoffs series against Miami.

According to Dame, it isn’t going to be an issue for him or his new teammates at all to deal with the lofty expectations from this Bucks team.

“For me, that makes me excited because some people probably think I’m too serious about it,” Lillard said. “Seriously, though. In my career, people think I take stuff too serious. And I shoot and I get my work in because I want to check every box to give myself the best chance, so to see so many different guys going about their business like that every day is, like, I feel like its more than just talk.

“Nobody just expects it to happen. Like typically when you get in a situation where you feel like we’re supposed to be successful, I get a little nervous that people think it’s just going to happen. But everybody here is like, ‘It’s not just going to happen.’ And that’s comforting.”

2023-2024 Milwaukee Depth Chart

Projected Starters
Damian Lillard
Malik Beasley
Khris Middleton
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Brook Lopez

Rotation Cam Payne, MarJon Beauchamp, Pat Connaughton, Jae Crowder, Bobby Portis, Lindell Wigginton AJ Green Chris Livingston Thanasis Antetokounmpo Robin Lopez, TyTy Washington, Jr. and Andre Jackson, Jr.

Prediction

Giannis Antetokounmpo will finish top 3 in the MVP race.

Giannis will also be a finalist in the Defensive Player of the Year race and Bobby Portis will be a finalist for Sixth Man of the Year.

I have the Bucks finishing first place in the Central division and No. 2 overall in the Eastern Conference with a record of 58-24.

Milwaukee will make it to the Eastern Conference Finals and face the Boston Celtics.

The Bucks season opener is October 26 at the Philadelphia 76ers at 6:30 p.m.

Milwaukee’s home opener is October 29 against the Atlanta Hawks at 6:00 p.m. followed by games against the Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, New York Knicks, and the Brooklyn Nets.

The Bucks’ regular season schedule will also include games as part of the league’s inaugural In-Season Tournament, which will consist of Group Play and Knockout Round games. Milwaukee, which is part of East Group B, will tip off Group Play action at home against the New York Knicks on Friday, Nov. 3. The Bucks will also host the Wizards on Friday, Nov. 24, and play on the road against the Hornets on Friday, Nov. 17 and against the Heat on Tuesday, Nov. 28 to complete their Group Play schedule.

Follow Melo on X and Instagram: @_MeloWilliams