The power balance in the NBA has shifted from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference in the past few years, the Milwaukee Bucks have been a part of that. As have the Brooklyn Nets since Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving teamed up with James Harden.
The Eastern Conference has gotten a real face lift over the past couple years and has had a different champion each of the last four seasons. The ascension of Jayson Tatum has brought the Celtics back to the NBA Finals and the Miami Heat have been perennial contenders. The Philadelphia 76ers have been in the conversation as well. Let’s see where the Milwaukee Bucks stack up in the Eastern Conference for the 2022-23 NBA Season.
Milwaukee Bucks Eastern Conference competition: Boston Celtics
The defending champion Boston Celtics have improved this off season, adding Malcolm Brogdon, acquiring him from the Pacers in exchange for five players: Daniel Theis, Aaron Nesmith, Nik Stauskas, Juwan Morgan and Malik Fitts. That made room on the roster to add more, they used that opportunity to sign Danilo Gallinari. Their biggest issue last season was ball handling and depth, they fixed both issues by getting the players they did, Brogdon is also a great off ball shooter so he will fit in perfectly next to Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. News of a torn ACL for Gallinari is a big blow to Boston’s plans, and the recent drama surrounding head coach Ime Udoka is going to be tough to overcome, he has been suspended for the entire 2022-23 season, and this situation could potentially get much worse.
The Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics will be a game with some drama surrounding it when they match up on Christmas day.
There are certainly some other teams to keep an eye on in the Eastern Conference as well, the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers who recently acquired Donovan Mitchell and Atlanta Hawks with their acquisition of Dejounte Murray could all be looking to ascend in the Eastern Conference.
Milwaukee Bucks Eastern Conference competition: Miami Heat
After looking at Boston you get to the Heat, 76ers and Nets. Miami was the number one seed in the conference last season and is known for their tough in-your-face defense. To me Miami is still a superstar away from being real contenders, everyone loves Jimmy Butler but he can’t do it alone. The Heat are very well coached by Erik Spoelstra but even with PJ Tucker and Kyle Lowry brought in last year, didn’t have enough to return to the Finals for the second time in three years. The pairing of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo is still a solid foundation.
Milwaukee Bucks Eastern Conference competition: Philadelphia 76ers
The 76ers retained James Harden, signed PJ Tucker, and traded for De’Anthony Melton. Harden took a pay cut to help round out their roster that needed some more defense and toughness. Adding Tucker and Melton gives the 76ers exactly that. Melton also gives ball handling for the backup guard position and a 39% 3-point shooter over the past two seasons. Joel Embiid has been on a mission for an MVP award and being “snubbed” for First Team All-NBA by finishing as the second best center to Nikola Jokic is likely to fuel another big season. That said this team has to show that they’re a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs, their blowout loss to Miami in game 5 and subsequent elimination in game 6 were uninspiring.
Milwaukee Bucks Eastern Conference competition: Brooklyn Nets
The Nets were picked to win the East from a survey taken by ESPN in 2021 and now come into the 2022-23 season as a relative unknown. These last couple seasons have really been a circus for them, so to say they are being doubted coming into the 2022 season is an understatement. However, they still have a roster that consists of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, both of whom have incredible basketball talent. The Nets dealt James Harden to acquire Ben Simmons who hasn’t played a game for Brooklyn yet but will give the Nets arguably the best defender they’ve had in the Kyrie, KD era. They also re-signed Nic Claxton, traded for Royce O’Neale and signed TJ Warren. Claxton has shown steady growth as a defensive anchor and scoring option down low for the Nets the last couple seasons, O’Neale will fill the void left by the departure of Bruce Brown who is now with the Nuggets and Warren, who is coming off an injury to his foot, could add some size and scoring behind Kevin Durant. The Nets have some very interesting potential with these moves.
Where do the Milwaukee Bucks stand among Eastern Conference competition?
Last, but certainly not least, we get to the Milwaukee Bucks, the Bucks were the Eastern Conference champs in 2021, Milwaukee looks ready to make a return to the top of the NBA mountain. This off-season they didn’t make a ton breaking news but in their case they didn’t have to. If Khris Middleton was healthy they would have had a great opportunity to get back to the Finals in back to back seasons, maybe even win it. So simply just keeping a few key guys and adding another veteran shooter was all they needed.
Milwaukee re-signed Bobby Portis, Pat Connaughton and Wesley Mathews, three key core players after the big three. The Bucks then signed free agent Joe Ingles who is coming off a torn ACL in his left knee, Ingles is a bit of a wild card. If he can come back and be 80-90% of what he once was he will be a tremendous fit for this team with his ability to shoot, and be an effective passer in the pick and roll it will be really tough for other teams to match the Bucks’ fire power when you consider they have the best player in the NBA, Giannis Antetokounmpo. We know the Bucks have an All-NBA defender in Jrue Holiday running the show and multiple players to use at shooting guard.
Brook Lopez should be healthy and ready to return to his position of anchoring the Milwaukee Bucks’ defense. Add in guys like Marjon Beauchamp and Sandro Mamukelashvili who could add more bench scoring, Bucks could legitimately be the deepest team in the league!
The winner is the Milwaukee Bucks, according to this year’s ESPN survey and echoed by many, the Bucks have the best player in the game, Giannis Antetokounmpo, add in the always under-appreciated Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday you have one of the best big threes in the sport. This team has championship DNA and is led by the hungriest superstar, who is just starting his prime.
The same survey that named Giannis as the NBA’s best player was split on whether the Milwaukee Bucks or Boston Celtics would represent the Eastern Conference in the 2023 NBA Finals.
2023 will be a great year around the NBA, also another year of watching Giannis and company crush the east on their way to their second finals in three seasons. Stay tuned for more Milwaukee Bucks analysis.