Milwaukee Bucks: Ranking their starting lineup among NBA’s best

Ranking the Milwaukee Bucks among league’s best starting fives — No. 2: Milwaukee Bucks

• Jrue Holiday
• Donte DiVincenzo or Grayson Allen
• Khris Middleton
• Giannis Antetokounmpo
• Brook Lopez

The defending NBA champions come in at number two on my list. Led by superstar and reigning Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo with Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, who are among the league’s best trio, the Bucks figure to once again be in the mix to raise the trophy at season’s end.

Donte DiVincenzo and Brook Lopez give the Bucks plus players on both ends that can help promote better floor spacing to let their stars do what they do best. They are the perfect pieces to surround the trio with, as this group finished the regular season last year fifth in offensive rating and ninth in defensive rating. Not to mention they managed to return all of their core members for the 2021-2022 season.

The Bucks truly found their defensive identity in the playoffs, and despite losing P.J. Tucker this offseason, I expect the Bucks to build upon their defensive identity. This group has talent and now the confidence of knowing they have what it takes to be the best.

Ranking the Milwaukee Bucks among league’s best starting fives — No. 1: Brooklyn Nets

• Kyrie Irving
• James Harden
• Joe Harris
• Kevin Durant
• LaMarcus Aldridge or Nicolas Claxton

The Nets enter the season with the best betting odds to win the NBA title, and it’s easy to understand why. Had it not been for a rash of injuries last season, there certainly exists a world where the Bucks couldn’t have gotten through the Nets in the postseason.

Headlined by the best trio in the NBA: Irving, Harden, and Durant, this team can put on an offensive clinic anywhere, any night. The Nets had the league’s best offensive rating (117.3) last season in their first year of playing together, despite the trio hardly playing together.

Your odds of stopping one player will be tough as it is, but there’s little to no chance you’ll shut down all three stars in the same game. Each of their superstars can score from all three levels, which extend defenses well beyond the 3-point line making life pretty easy for knockdown shooters like Joe Harris. To me, this isn’t much of a debate. Of course, it looks like Irving will not start the season with the team due to his unwillingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, but time will tell how things play out there.

We will see the top two teams on this list go head-to-head this Tuesday to officially kick off the 2021-22 NBA season.