Behind the Bucks Pass
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Milwaukee Bucks: 5 keys to challenging for a top-4 seed next season

By Adam McGee

CLEVELAND, OH - OCTOBER 13: A shot of the Milwaukee Bucks logo during the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on October 13, 2015 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and condition of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Rocky Widner/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - OCTOBER 13: A shot of the Milwaukee Bucks logo during the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on October 13, 2015 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and condition of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Rocky Widner/Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NV – JULY 7
LAS VEGAS, NV – JULY 7 /

Youngsters provide key minutes

The Bucks will enter the 2017-18 season as one of the league’s five youngest teams, along with lottery stalwarts of recent years such as the Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns and Orlando Magic.

While the Sixers and Magic may hope to capitalize on a weakened Eastern Conference to grab a playoff spot, that’ll be the minimum expectation for a Bucks team led by an All-NBA caliber star.

With Jason Terry and Michael Beasley still free agents, and the likelihood being that at least one of that pair won’t return for the new season, Jason Kidd is going to be tasked with filling up spots in his rotation with much younger and less experienced players.

This will mean continuing to rely on Malcolm Brogdon and Thon Maker who started at the tail end of last season, and looking for more from Rashad Vaughn as he comes into his third year with the team. It will also see them turn to rookies D.J. Wilson and Sterling Brown, along with Gary Payton II who has only six NBA games to his name at present.

Big contributions from Brogdon and Maker will obviously be essential, but at least two of those other four youngsters will also need to prove themselves as NBA-ready players. It’s not impossible for that to become Milwaukee’s reality, but it’s no certainty either.

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