The Milwaukee Bucks Futures Odds (BetDSI Sportsbook)
Milwaukee Bucks to win the Central Division: +600
Milwaukee Bucks to win the Eastern Conference: +1600
Milwaukee Bucks to win the NBA Championship: +6600
Milwaukee Bucks Total Win Prediction: Total 46.5 (Over -125, Under -105)
The Milwaukee Bucks finished in the 6th place in the East and entered the playoffs with 42 victories. Only the Cleveland Cavaliers had the better record in the Central Division, and although the Bucks had 2-1 over the Toronto Raptors in the opening round of the postseason, the Raptors bounced back and won three in a row, knocking out the Bucks in the process.
Milwaukee showed signs of promise, and it seems that they are ready to move a step forward as they kept key players at the club, so head coach Jason Kidd is delighted to have a healthy atmosphere in the locker room. Giannis Antetokounmpo emerged as the new team leader, and he will continue to carry the Bucks forward in his fifth season in the NBA, while Khris Middleton, Greg Monroe, Jabari Parker, and Malcolm Brogdon all have the ability to do great things in the upcoming season.
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The 2017/2018 Milwaukee Bucks Roster
Arrivals: D.J. Wilson, Sterling Brown.
Departures: Michael Beasley, Spencer Hawes, Jason Terry.
The Milwaukee Bucks selected D.J. Wilson with the 17th pick overall in the 2017 NBA Draft, and the 21-year-old power forward signed a rookie scale contract with Milwaukee this July. Wilson spent the previous three years with the Michigan Wolverines, and in 2016/17, he averaged 11.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, and 1.5 bpg. Although a highly-ranked player, Wilson is listed as the No. 3 option at the PF position, behind Antetokounmpo and Mirza Teletovic, so I don’t expect him to get a significant amount of minutes unless Giannis, Jabari Parker or Mirza suffers an injury. The Bucks also picked Sidarius Thornwell with the 45th pick overall but immediately traded him to the Los Angeles Clippers. The 22-year-old shooting guard was impressive in his senior year with the South Carolina Gamecocks, averaging 21.4 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 2.9 apg, 2.2 spg, and 1.0 bpg in 34.2 mpg, earning the First-team All-SEC and SEC Player of the Year – Coaches honors in the process. Thornwell would definitely be an excellent addition to the Bucks shooting guard contingent, which is not particularly good with Tony Snell and Rashad Vaughn, and the decision to give up on Sidarius was inexplicable to me. Instead, Milwaukee brought Sterling Brown, who came in a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers for cash considerations. Brown played college basketball with the SMU Mustangs and averaged 13.4 ppg and 6.5 rpg in his senior year, but it seems that he is not talented as Thornwell, so I am not sure what Milwaukee’s plans were when they shipped out Sidarius and then took Brown.
| PG | SG | SF | PF |
C |
| Malcolm Brogdon | Tony Snell | Khris Middleton | Giannis Antetokounmpo | George Monroe |
| Matthew Dellavedova | Rashad Vaughn | Jabari Parker | Mirza Teletovic | Thon Maker |
| Gary Payton II | Sterling Brown | D.J. Wilson | John Henson | |
Jason Terry became an unrestricted free agent, and the 39-year-old shooting guard left the Bucks after spending the 2016/17 season with them, averaging 4.1 ppg in 18.4 mpg. Although he is looking close to retirement, Terry stated that he would like to re-sign with the Bucks who have one more place to fill on their 15-man roster following the release of Spencer Hawes. Terry’s salary for 2017/18 fit the bill for Milwaukee, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they offer a deal to the former NBA Sixth Man of the Year. Talking about Hawes, the Bucks decided to waive him in order to go beneath the luxury tax and now they are $2.5 million under, so Hawes’ departure opened the way for Jason Terry to return to Milwaukee. Hawes averaged 6.2 ppg and 3.5 rpg for the Charlotte Hornets and Milwaukee Bucks in 2016/17, and the 29-year-old power forward is now looking for a new team. Michael Beasley left Milwaukee and signed a contract with the New York Knicks, who are his sixth team in last seven years. The former Miami Heat small forward averaged 9.4 ppg and 3.4 rpg in 16.7 mpg for the Bucks last season, and even though he could stay and fight for minutes with Middleton and Parker, Beasley joined the Knicks where he will serve as Kristaps Porzingis’ backup at the power forward position.
Milwaukee extended Tony Snell’s contract who became a restricted free agent this summer, and the 25-year-old will continue to serve as the starting shooting guard, with Rashad Vaughn and Sterling Brown behind him in the pecking order. Snell is not the classic shooting guard as he began his career at the small forward spot, but his determination, aggressiveness, and solid defense made him one of the key players in this Jason Kidd’s system. The former Chicago Bull averaged 8.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, and 1.2 apg in 29.2 mpg (all career highs), and appeared in 80 games (all starts). Snell is not the player who will settle the match with his shooting abilities but can be more than useful when it comes to stealing the ball or disrupting the opponent’s play action, so he became a valuable part of this team in 2016/17.
Greg Monroe will stay with the Bucks at least for another year after he decided to exploit the player option and extend the deal with Milwaukee, where he spent the last two seasons. The 27-year-old center averaged 11.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 2.3 apg, and 1.1 spg in 22.5 mpg, and although he appeared in 81 matches, Greg didn’t record a single start. However, that’s going to change this time around as Monroe is listed as the starting center ahead of Thon Maker and John Henson on a depth chart, and I expect his minutes to increase to between 25 and 27 minutes per contest in 2017/18. Maker and Henson are also solid centers, but they are more about athleticism while Monroe has the “brain” and knows how to beat his opponents in the paint by outsmarting them rather than using force and muscles.
The Bucks had a lot of injury troubles in the past couple of years as both Khris Middleton and Jabari Parker were forced to miss plenty of time due to severe injuries. Middleton appeared in only 29 games in 2016/17, while Jabari missed 31 matches, and if they were on the court throughout the entire season, the Bucks would have quite better results. Parker averaged 20.1 ppg and 6.2 rpg in 51 games, while Middleton 14.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.2 apg, and 1.4 spg, and both of them played more than 30 minutes per match. The Bucks are a lot weaker team without the pair, and if they avoid injury setbacks in 2017/18, Milwaukee could do wonders in the Eastern Conference.
However, the MVP of this team is without a doubt Giannis “Greek Freak” Antetokounmpo, who exploded in 2016/17 and earned the NBA Most Improved Player award ahead of Nikola Jokic and Rudy Gobert. Giannis was also included into the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, All-NBA Second Team, and NBA All-Star, first in his career. In his fourth season with the Bucks, Giannis averaged 22.9 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 5.4 apg, 1.9 bpg, and 1.6 spg in 25.6 mpg (all career best including the field goal at .522). He decided to skip this summer’s edition of the European Championship in order to be fully fit for the beginning of the upcoming campaign. Antetokounmpo can cover each position on the floor literally, and he had played all five at some point in his young career, but for the 2017/18 season, he is listed as the power forward. Still, if Middleton suffers an injury (which frequently happened in the past), Giannis will be deployed to the SF spot, while Jabari Parker would switch to the PF. That only shows the Bucks depth at forward positions and the fact that they are the strongest from the wing, and despite not having a classic shooting guard, this Milwaukee team has a lot of potential.
At the point, the Bucks have Malcolm Brogdon and Matthew Dellavedova, entirely different players who work together very well. While Brogdon is more a shooter and looks to score often, Dellavedova is a blue collar guy who will give his all to the team and can organize plays efficiently. Both of them are solid in defense, and all in all, the Bucks really have useful options at the No. 1 position.
The Bottom Line and Total Win Prediction
The Milwaukee Bucks have a talented group of players that can make magic in the Eastern Conference this year, so other teams should be aware of their quality, and I consider them as a quite tricky team to play against. Although they are unlucky to be with the Cleveland Cavs in the same division, the Bucks could easily go up to the 5th place in the conference. Once they got into the playoffs, anything could happen as I believe they are more experienced and smarter than in 2016/17. The bookies expect them to go above .500, and BetDSI Sportsbook set the number of seasons wins at 46.5. I would advise you to choose over, considering that the Bucks already recorded 42 wins last year, and they were without Middleton and Parker for quite some time.
Season total wins: 46.5 Over (-125)
