Apr 25, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Fans get ready for game four of the first round of the NBA Playoffs between the Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
This Milwaukee Bucks team is heading firmly in the right direction. They’ve got everything going for them right now: new owners, a fresh, forward thinking coach, a young core of talent, a re-energized fan base and a fancy new logo and identity.
I mean we’ve been over all of this before.
This team is set up to try and make history, and yet it’s important that we don’t ignore the fact that this group has already made its own slice of history.
The 2014-15 Bucks became only the ninth team in NBA history to go from holding the league’s worst record to making the Playoffs in their following season, and that was a stat that was mentioned often ahead of Milwaukee’s first round tilt with the Chicago Bulls.
Something that seemed to be a little bit overlooked though was, what sort of trajectory did those teams from the past take on from there?
Were they just so dysfunctional that they zig-zagged between obscurity and mediocrity?
Or is such a sudden resurgence a stable platform to build a dynasty from?
One thing that became abundantly clear was that the quickest way to turn things around is by drafting or reaping the rewards from the development of an exceptional talent. With the Bucks having done that in spite of being robbed of Jabari Parker due to injury last season, the future can only appear brighter.
To find out the answers to the questions above, and hopefully create great cause for optimism amongst Bucks fans, I decided to take a dig through the NBA history books.
If nothing else, it offers the Bucks some dos and don’ts on their rebuilding path.
Next: The Missing Years Of The Miami Heat Dynasty