August 04, 2024
Benny Sieu/USA TODAY Sports
Can Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers and Giannis Antetokounmpo work together to capture their second NBA titles?
With much of the Sixers' 2024-25 roster locked in more than a month removed from the start of a franchise-altering free agency, the time has come to evaluate their opposition in the Eastern Conference: of last season's playoff teams in the East, which ones pose the biggest threats to the Sixers, and how do the teams match up with this new-look team?
Up third is the team captained by former Sixers head coach Doc Rivers: the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bucks made some difficult decisions following a disappointing playoff exit at the end of the 2022-23 season. They traded Jrue Holiday and plenty of additional assets to acquire superstar point guard Damian Lillard — betting on a partnership of Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo giving the team greater upside — and parted ways with head coach Mike Budenholzer just a few years removed from the coaching veteran leading them to a championship. Milwaukee ultimately replaced Budenholzer with longtime assistant coach Adrian Griffin Sr.
Just 43 games into the 2023-24 season, Milwaukee fired Griffin in an unprecedented move. The team was 33-10 at the time, but Bucks brass simply no longer believed Griffin was not the right person for the job and, rather than wallow in their own mistake, took action and let go the rookie head coach.
Replacing Griffin was a coach with plenty of experience... Rivers, who had spent the first half of the season calling NBA games as part of ESPN's top announcing teams after being let go by the Sixers following three consecutive disappointing playoff exits.
Due to the sheer volume of significant changes being made and a slew of injuries hitting the Bucks at the wrong times, the franchise never found its footing in 2023-24 and fell out of the NBA Playoffs with a first-round elimination at the hands of the Indiana Pacers.
Perhaps the most important improvement the Bucks could make this offseason was stabilizing their ability, securing a cohesive coaching staff and getting all of the team's core pieces on the same page.
But, because the Bucks are a second apron team, they did not have much of a choice but to hope those things contribute to significant growth. Aside from using two draft picks, the team was limited to veteran's minimum contracts to fill out their roster. To be fair, they did find three players who are likely surefire rotation pieces on minimum deals, but they did not add any franchise-altering talent.
Added: AJ Johnson (No. 23 overall pick in NBA Draft), Tyler Smith (No. 33 overall pick in NBA Draft), Gary Trent Jr. (free agency), Taurean Prince (free agency), Delon Wright (free agency)
Retained: n/a
Extended: n/a
Lost: Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Danilo Gallinari, Thanasis Antetokounmpo
Last summer, sharpshooter Malik Beasley's market dried up and Milwaukee pounced, offering him a minimum deal and a starting spot on a team that would free him up for plenty of three-point tries and giving him the chance to hit free agency again the following summer with a strong market — even if that meant his stay in Milwaukee only lasting one season.
After Beasley departed Milwaukee for a Detroit Pistons team desperate for three-point shooting, the team used the exact same playbook to sign Trent, who will likely occupy the role Beasley has vacated.
Prince and Wright, two veterans with some defensive versatility, will help raise the floor of an extremely suspect unit of reserves.
So, after the dust has settled, what does Rivers have to work with?
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
| Damian Lillard | Gary Trent Jr. | Khris Middleton | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Brook Lopez |
| Delon Wright | Pat Connaughton | Andre Jackson Jr. | Taurean Prince | Bobby Portis |
| A.J. Green | MarJon Beauchamp |
Like the Sixers, Milwaukee has a massive range of possible outcomes because of the fragility of some of their key pieces. Once an iron man of sorts, Lillard has played fewer than 60 games in two of the last three years and missed most of their playoff series last season. Antetokounmpo missed the entirety of that series and is a safe bet to miss a few weeks at some point in the year, but has rarely suffered overly serious injuries. Middleton perhaps carries the biggest red flag from an availability standpoint, playing in just 88 combined games over the last two seasons.
The Bucks have plenty of young, athletic wing players who have yet to assert themselves as viable rotation pieces on a nightly basis. One of Green, Jackson, Beauchamp or Johnson emerging from the pack would be a boon for Rivers.
The revamped Sixers might have more sheer talent on their roster than the Bucks have on their roster. Oftentimes, though, a playoff series between teams in the same ballpark from a talent perspective is decided by which team's best player takes command of the series. Over the last few seasons, Joel Embiid has been a better regular season performer than Antetokounmpo. But unlike the 2021 NBA Finals MVP, Embiid has never taken a series against a fellow contender by the horns and won it by his lonesome.
In terms of the games within the (theoretical) games here, the most fascinating subplot of a Sixers-Bucks matchup is how the Sixers would defend Antetokounmpo. In the regular season, they will likely throw as many bodies at him as they can while keeping Embiid near the basket. But when the chips are down, there is perhaps no player in the entire NBA who has the perfect combination of strength, size and basketball IQ to contain Antetokounmpo like Embiid has.
Joel Embiid’s defense on Giannis was stunning. Antetokounmpo took 11 shots against Embiid. After going 2-3 in the first four minutes, he went 0-8 and was blocked twice in the remainder of the game.
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) December 26, 2019
Here‘s every Giannis FGA against Joel:
Absolutely dominant showing from Embiid. pic.twitter.com/9O8wVL6zj2
Lillard is as lethal of a scoring threat the guard position as there is in the NBA, not to mention one of the most clutch shot-makers there is. The Sixers will not prevent him from getting buckets, but they do have the requisite defensive pieces to make things challenging for him, most notably Kelly Oubre Jr. and Caleb Martin.
In Brook Lopez, the Bucks have a viable foe for Embiid when the former NBA MVP looks to dominate as a scorer. Antetokounmpo roaming as a free safety likely represents the most dangerous off-ball defensive threat in the NBA. But the Bucks simply lack enough quality perimeter defenders to consistently handle Tyrese Maxey or Paul George when either is at their best, let alone both at the same time.
Embiid vs. Antetokounmpo is an enticing debate, with plenty of strong points in both directions. But even if Antetokounmpo narrowly outperforms Embiid in a hypothetical series, the Sixers might have a clear advantage as far as the rest of the teams' rotations go.
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