The Milwaukee Bucks will open the season against their bitter Eastern Conference rivals, the Brooklyn Nets.
This matchup is possibly one of the most anticipated of the year, as NBA fans are eager to see how these two teams match up to start the year. As if Brooklyn didn’t need any more motivation to start their season on a high note, Milwaukee will be raising their banner commemorating their title and receiving their championship rings after defeating them in a hard-fought seven-game series last year. As we look ahead to this matchup, here are three things to key in on when watching the game.
How well will the newcomers fit in with both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Brooklyn Nets?
Both the Bucks and Nets retooled their rosters around their core pieces this offseason, with Milwaukee welcoming back veteran guard George Hill and trading for sharpshooting off-guard Grayson Allen. They also added names like Rodney Hood, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Georgios Kalaitzakis, among others, that should help in their quest to repeat. The Bucks are arguably better than they were last season depth-wise, thanks to their offseason efforts.
Brooklyn brought in a few new pieces as well, with a couple of the most important acquisitions being veteran sharpshooter Patty Mills and savvy big man Paul Millsap. LaMarcus Aldridge is also back with the team after having abruptly retired last season due to a heart condition. There are questions around all of these acquisitions, with some waiting to be answered as soon as opening night.
Some people are wondering how much Hill and Millsap have left in the tank for their respective teams, while others are wondering if Mills can be a net positive for this Nets team with his lackluster defense. The most intriguing debut happening opening night though will be Allen. There are many compelling ways the Bucks can integrate Allen into their offense. Will he be used as an inverted pick and roll partner with Giannis Antetokounmpo like Bryn Forbes was last year? Will he be a primary dribble handoff option for this offense? We might not get all of these questions answered in the first game of the season, but it will absolutely be intriguing to see.