Milwaukee Bucks: Team ranked second in ESPN’s future power rankings

Jul 8, 2021; Phoenix, Arizona, USA (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)
Jul 8, 2021; Phoenix, Arizona, USA (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks are seen by many to be one of the clear favorites for the title again this season. This shouldn’t shock anyone considering the offseason they had and that their core big three are still intact. However, the Bucks are also seen as one of the best teams going forward over the next three seasons.

According to a future power ranking done by ESPN (subscription required), the Bucks are seen as the second-best team over the next three seasons. They trail only the Brooklyn Nets for first and are directly ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, and Miami Heat in the top five. The Bucks moved up from sixth when ESPN last did their power ranking over the next three seasons before the playoffs in May.

According to Bobby Marks, who did the writeup for the Bucks, the most important factor was that the Bucks have their three core players under contract until at least the 2023-24 season which puts them second in the player category (also behind the Nets), which is weighed as by far the most important category. Other than their players, the next biggest factor was their management being ranked third among every front office and coaching staff around the league. Marks notes that the Bucks extending head coach Mike Budenholzer was key, but also mentions the trade record of general manager Jon Horst and ownership willing to spend into the luxury tax as reasons why they’re the third-ranked management group.

The things holding the Bucks back in their ranking are their future draft picks and draft positioning which ranks 29th given they traded a fair amount of their draft capital to the New Orleans Pelicans and are expected to draft near the bottom of the first round with any first-rounders that they do own. They also rank low in the money category, which evaluates how much salary cap space and flexibility a team has, and the Bucks of course have very limited flexibility in the upcoming seasons because of their core players being locked in. They’re middle of the pack (16th) in the market category, which among other things takes into account team quality, arena, fanbase, and market size. Milwaukee may not be the biggest market but the Bucks make up for it in other areas.

Reactions to the Milwaukee Bucks being ranked second in ESPN’s future power rankings

It’s no surprise the Bucks rank as high as they do in the overall power rankings, but what has seemed to shock many people online is that the Bucks have the third-best management group according to the ESPN insiders who created these rankings (Marks, Kevin Pelton, Tim Bontemps, and Andre Snellings). Yes, the Bucks have made their share of mistakes throughout Horst’s tenure but at the end of the day, they have a championship.

It also has brought up a weird trend I’ve noticed where many people outside of Bucks fans agree the team has a great roster (I’ve said it’s the best Bucks roster in over a decade at least), but will also say the Bucks are mismanaged. Horst has made mistakes regarding the cap, most notably not generating a trade exception from the Malcolm Brogdon trade and the Pat Connaughton re-signing fiasco last season where he was initially signed to a contract that wasn’t allowed within the cap rules and was then signed again to a bigger contract with more term as well as dollars.

However, Horst has done very well in upgrading the roster on the margins without much flexibility, especially so this offseason. It’s hard to rationalize the Bucks having a great roster top-to-bottom but also say their management isn’t great. Horst has added many key contributors to the roster since he took over and has been able to retain almost all of them (outside of Brogdon, which we looked back on recently).

The management also includes coaching, where Budenholzer has proven to be one of the league’s best coaches and is in place for multiple years now. He has his warts but showed in last season that he is willing to adapt and is one of the best in the NBA at keeping his players fresh by managing their workloads, something that comes in handy when the games matter the most

Of course, I am biased when it comes to defending the Bucks management and tend to look at the positives over the negatives, but it’s hard to look at how Horst has been able to add to the roster with limited salary flexibility and say he hasn’t done a very good job.

Bringing in players like Brook Lopez, Pat Connaughton, and Bobby Portis on cheap contracts and being able to retain them while acquiring Grayson Allen without giving up much of anything are very shrewd moves. That’s not even adding in the core pieces and retaining all three for the long term.

Horst has his mistakes, but I still believe that his hits have surpassed his misses. That’s proven by winning a championship and having one of the two or three best rosters in the entire league.

As for the other ranks. I think it’s fair to have them right near the bottom for money and draft capital. It’s pretty clear they don’t have a lot of flexibility (which is what has made Horst’s offseason so impressive) and their draft capital is nearly nonexistent outside of this coming draft and the years they’ll have their pick swaps with the Pelicans.

The market ranking is interesting because if the Bucks were still the Bucks from a few years ago, their rank would likely be in the mid-to-low 20s based on market size and lack of team quality and prestige. But the Bucks are a consistent contender now with a great arena and an energized fanbase.

You can gripe with the overall ranking but them being predicted as the second-best team over the next three seasons is certainly a great sign that the Bucks are being respected by national media and seen as a championship threat for many years, especially with the core locked in.