Ranking the Milwaukee Bucks amongst NBA’s best trios: Team’s 3-1
#3 Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook
From a name-value standpoint, there are few trios that compete with this one. They combine for a staggering 34 All-Star selections, so there’s going to be a lot of eyes on this newly formed trio. We’ve seen what LeBron James and Anthony Davis can do together when fully healthy. They won a championship together! But how will Russell Westbrook fit into the equation now?
I have questions about the fit offensively, but some concerns on defense as well. Defensively it’s more of a team-wide concern as opposed to these three. James and Davis are still two of the best in the world on that end of the floor, but Westbrook isn’t what he used to be. The hope is that playing with James and Davis can bring out the best in Westbrook’s defending, but we’ll see.
Offensively, I’m intrigued by how it’ll go. Westbrook obviously wants the ball in his hands and when he’s most effective is when he’s going downhill and able to create offense at the rim while playmaking for others around him. But do you really want James to not have the ball in his hands?If James has the ball, though, then that will allow teams to just let Westbrook shoot jumpers, something he’s been a little too willing to do when his numbers suggest he probably shouldn’t. Ideally, he could play a more enhanced version of what Bruce Brown did for the Brooklyn Nets, but I don’t know if Westbrook will be a willing screen setter.
The talent is there for the Lakers, but how will it actually go once the games are being played?
#2. Milwaukee Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday
The reigning champs fall just short of the best trio in the NBA, but being the second-best isn’t so bad either. In just their first season together, they won a title and looked like a perfect match for one another. After a couple of years without a true number three, Holiday filled the void and was more than worth the hefty price tag that the Bucks paid. He showed why he’s considered to be among the elite defenders in the entire league, doing a little bit of everything for the Bucks during their playoff run. His defense swung games at important moments, and he came up with timely buckets when the Bucks needed him most.
Middleton was the clutch scorer that Bucks fans always knew he could be, and he took it to another level in this past playoff run. The man had a 40-point game in the NBA Finals, nothing more can be said about Middleton’s ability to be a number two on a championship team. And what more can I say about Antetokounmpo? Very few playoff runs were as impressive and as dominant as what he did in 2021. He averaged 30.2 points, 12.8 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game. It was prime Shaquille O’Neal numbers, and he finished it off with a 50-point closeout game to win the title and Finals MVP. He’s the best two-way player in the game.
#1. Brooklyn Nets: Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving
There truly has never been a better collection of offensive talent than what the Nets have assembled with these three scoring monsters. We didn’t get to see them together as much as we’d like to as fans, but when we did, it was a joy to watch. There are no concerns with how the three fit together on the court. They proved that they can and will be unselfish and don’t care which one of the three has a big game.
Kevin Durant’s performance in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Bucks will go down as one of the best ever in a losing effort. He truly nearly won the series by himself and looked wholly unstoppable for the entire series. There’s no better offensive player in basketball right now, and it shouldn’t be a debate.
Then there’s his teammate, James Harden, who could easily lay claim to being the second-best offensive player in basketball. We’ve seen his huge scoring exploits when he was in Houston, but his passing is what sets him apart. He’s a gifted passer and doesn’t get enough credit for that sometimes. Despite the mini-beef between Harden and Antetokounmpo, it’s hard for any Bucks fan to deny the greatness of Harden. And then there’s Irving, who is one of the most exciting players to watch on a nightly basis. There are few players in NBA history who come close to having the handle that Irving does, and his ability to finish around bigger defenders at the rim is unbelievable.
Hopefully the trio can remain healthy this season and in the playoffs because it will be a fun team to get to see work together and a challenge for any team to stop them.
There’s a ton of star power in the NBA right now, and there are more teams that have very good trios that I had to leave off, but there should be no debate that the Milwaukee Bucks easily have one of the best in all of basketball.