2018-2019 Record                 Home Record               Road Record

        60-22                                     33-8                            27-14

2019-2020 Record                 Home Record               Road Record

         53-12                                     28-3                            25-9

Fun Facts for the season

-The Bucks have not made the NBA Finals since 1973 and have struggled to make it out of the first round since the 1990s. Dating all the way back to 1990, the franchise has only found themselves in the Eastern Conference Finals twice: 2000-01 and 2018-19. This iteration of the Bucks appear to be ready and able to take the next step and challenge for an NBA title if things break their way.

-Giannis Antetokounmpo has proven to be one of the best draft picks over the last decade and his fantasy production has only one weakness: free throw shooting. Giannis has seen his free throw attempts rise in each of his first seven seasons in the league and his percentage fell off a cliff in 2019-20 (.633), which greatly affected his value. Giannis was the 14th/20th ranked per-game player while he would be the 1st/2nd ranked per-game player in a “punt-free-throw percentage” build.

-Giannis was on track to become the twelfth player to win back-to-back MVPs if he continued on his historic pace from this season, joining a list that includes some of the greatest basketball players of all-time: Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash, LeBron James and Stephen Curry. Giannis has led the league in player efficiency rating for the last two seasons and his PER of 31.6 this campaign ranks him behind only three players in NBA history: Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan and LeBron James. That, we can all agree, is ELITE company!

-Khris Middleton saw his efficiency dip in 2018-19. which resulted in a three-four round drop in per-game value last season. He only took 0.6 more shots per game season over season but due to increased efficiency, Middleton became a much better value in 2019-20 as outlined below:

-After leaving the Lakers following the 2017-18 season, Brook Lopez reemerged as a fantasy asset in his time with the Bucks. However, his value can be accounted for by looking at two primary factors: usage and blocks per game. As Lopez has aged, he has seen his usage decrease so the fact that he has been able to rank 4th and 2nd in blocks per game over his two seasons with the Bucks can be seen as the reason why he is a top-75 fantasy asset.

*2011-12 not included because Lopez only played in 5 games that season due to injury

-In his sophomore season, Donte DiVincenzo found himself as a key part of the Bucks rotation. He saw his minutes increase from 15.2 in his rookie year to 23.1 in 2019-20 and played in 59 out of 65 games. DiVincenzo was also able to log 22 starts as he was the first player to enter the starting lineup whenever Eric Bledsoe, Wesley Matthews or Khris Middleton were out with injury. There were two large stretches of games in which DiVincenzo started and here is how he fared:

For a closer look at how the season has gone, be sure to check out our Season So Far series. The Bucks’ entry can be found right here.

Rosterable in 12-team 8/9-cat leagues (per-game value)

-Giannis Antetokounmpo (2nd round/2nd round)

-Khris Middleton (3rd round/2nd round)

-Eric Bledsoe (6th round/7th round)

-Brook Lopez (7th round/6th round)

-Donte DiVincenzo (10th round/9th round)

Showed flashes of fantasy value in 12-team 8/9-cat leagues (per-game value)

-George Hill (9th round/10th round from Dec 13 through Dec 28)

-Ersan Ilyasova (12th round/11th round from Dec 4 through Jan 4)

Rosterable in standard points leagues

(This is Yahoo’s standard scoring system, we’ll be using them as a reference for the rankings but obviously things will be different in your league if you use a custom scoring format or play on ESPN/CBS/Fantrax)

-Giannis Antetokounmpo (1st round)

-Khris Middleton (4th round)

-Eric Bledsoe (7th round)

-Brook Lopez (8th round)

-Donte DiVincenzo (12th round)

Flashes of value in standard points leagues:

-N/A

Predicting standard league relevant players for 2020-21 season

-Giannis Antetokounmpo (all formats)

-Khris Middleton (all formats)

-Eric Bledsoe (all formats)

-Brook Lopez (all formats)

-Donte DiVincenzo (8/9-cat)

Potential for standard league value for 2020-21 season

-Donte DiVincenzo (points leagues)

-George Hill (8/9-cat)

Upcoming Notable Free Agents

-Ersan Ilyasova (team option of $7M in 2020-21)

-Robin Lopez (player option of $5.01M in 2020-21)

-Wesley Matthews (player option of $2.69M in 2020-21)

-Kyle Korver (unrestricted)

-Pat Connaughton (restricted)

-Sterling Brown (restricted)

-Marvin Williams (unrestricted)

Key Additions

-Marvin Williams (signed mid-season)

Key Departures

-Dragan Bender (waived)

Upcoming Draft Picks

-2020 first round pick (via Indiana)

-2021 first round pick second round pick

-2022 first round pick (protected top-10, 11-30 to Cleveland; if unconveyed becomes protected top-10 and 25-30 in 2023, 11-24 to Cleveland; if unconveyed becomes protected top-8 in 2024, 9-30 to Cleveland; if unconveyed becomes two second round picks in 2024 and 2025 respectively)

-2022 second round pick

-2022 second round pick (via Indiana if Indiana conveys second round pick to Brooklyn in 2021)

Of course, there are more important things in the world than the weird game with the orange ball and a nonsensically high basket where players just run back and forth for 48 minutes and we have to be cognizant of that, but it’s a gloomy time knowing this team that seemed destined to compete for a title in a modern NBA with the odds stacked against them will either never get a chance to get there or will always have an asterisk next to them for winning a title in a non-traditional fashion. The reality is that this doesn’t happen in Milwaukee often and this team didn’t cut any corners building this roster from the ground. There were no public phone calls compiling the star power. There was no jet-hunting or press conferences. There’s just basketball.

The formation of this roster has been years in the making. The core pieces were in place: Antetokounmpo was Batman, Khris Middleton was a less annoying Robin. Eric Bledsoe had spent a couple years becoming less of an athlete and more of a basketball player after some stops and starts in Los Angeles and Phoenix. Brook Lopez turned into an integral part of a championship-caliber team on an unprecedentedly affordable contract. Still, there were some problems to address coming in.

The primary issue was sorting out which of these players would stick around. Maloclm Brogdon was a restricted free agent demanding a lot of money after his 50-40-90 season. The Bucks had to address him, Middleton, and Lopez.

Brogdon drew the short straw and headed to Indiana in a sign-and-trade situation that netted a first-round draft pick. Middleton got a max deal. Lopez got compensated for playing above his contract in a one-year trial run with a four-year deal sitting around $13 million AAV.

As an aside, the Brook Lopez situation is fascinating. It’s not long ago that Lopez was scoring 20 points per game and rebounding a pathetic amount for his height (2017). The trade to Los Angeles and subsequent disaster season tanked his appeal in the current NBA and the Bucks smartly capitalized on an estranged asset who struggled more with the fit than anything else in Los Angeles.

Then there was the issue of George Hill. In a true team-context move, the Bucks waived his $18 million dollar expiring deal to sign him back for three years as a steady veteran for the second unit. The band was (mostly) back together. Wesley Matthews and Kyle Korver were brought in to shoot. Robin Lopez was brought in to make fun of his brother. To overcome the sting of losing a series they maybe should have performed better in against the Raptors the year before, this Bucks team was asking some ancillary pieces to step up if Giannis couldn’t do it all. Fortunately for them, he basically can.

The Most Valuable Player… Ever?

At a point early in the season, Giannis Antetokounmpo was pacing out to have a PER over 33 and finish with the most impressive single season in NBA history. At the 10-game mark, Giannis’s PER was 33.68. From a real NBA perspective, his dominance was putting him as the frontrunner for the MVP once again with only LeBron James as the competition.

The stat line is immense with career-highs in points (29.6), rebounds (13.7) and 3-pointers (1.5). What’s more impressive is that these stats, complete with 5.8 assists, a steal and a blocked shot on 54.7% shooting from the floor (despite the added range), were compiled in a six-year low in minutes per game at only 30.9. The efficiency is staggering… except for the main issues that have deflated the tires on the Greek Freak bandwagon for his entire career from a fantasy perspective.

The turnovers continue to rise (now at 3.7 per contest), and the 63.3% from the charity stripe is 9.6% lower than 2018-19 and a 12.7% decline from 2017-18. To exacerbate the free throw hit, the 10 attempts per game at this poor efficiency made him the single biggest negative impact on any statistical category by any one player.

Again, it’s critical to remember that the standard roto/H2H category formats rate each of these categories evenly, and it’s very difficult to keep everything on the same level when the dunks and big-time blocks are more memorable than a couple missed free throws. The real-life production is his best output yet, but from a fantasy standpoint in 9-category formats, Antetokounmpo sits in 20^th overall after three years of 5^th, 7^th and 6^th respectively. There’s no way around the fact that the free throw percentage has to return to the mid-70s to become the top fantasy option in this league.

Khris Middleton, Silent Star

Khris Middleton is not the most talented player in the league. He’s not the most explosive, or the toughest, or the fastest, or the smartest. He is, however, the perfect fit for this team. He doesn’t demand the ball. He doesn’t play with an ego. This Bucks roster flourishes because the pieces just seem to fit and Middleton is the glue to that entire philosophy. He is consistent. He is reliable. He is the embodiment of Milwaukee basketball.

It may come as a surprise, but Middleton’s outspoken production equated to a very similar fantasy output as the megastar level flair of Antetokounmpo. Middleton ranked as the 22^nd best player in 9-category formats at the time of the season pause, just two spots behind Antetkounmpo’s MVP stats. He got recognition from the league, making his second straight All-Star  appearance, this time with an even more compelling case. His 2018 was… good. It was 18-6-4 with a steal on not horrible shooting. This season he took that to a whole new level with a career-high 21.1 points per game. The other counting stats remained amazingly consistent from the previous year:

2018: 18.3 PTS, 6.0 REB, 4.3 AST, 2.3 3-PT, 1.0 STL, 0.1 BLK, 2.3 TOV

2019: 21.1 PTS, 6.2 REB, 4.1 AST, 2.4 3-PT, 1.0 STL, 0.1 BLK, 2.1 TOV

Middleton’s 2018 season was good for the #63 player in fantasy basketball. This 41-spot jump in this season is a testament to the one thing we’ve purposely withheld when looking at these stat lines. One year removed from Malcolm Brogdon’s 50-40-90 season, Middleton had 50-40-90 in his sights as well. He was taking more shots than before (15.5 vs. 14.9 FGA and 3.6 vs. 3.4 FTA) and was making them at an incredible 49.9/41.4/90.8 clip.

Middleton’s propensity to turn a low-percentage mid-range jumper into an easy shot is reminiscent of the DeMar DeRozan/Dwyane Wade/Kobe Bryant mold that is really kind of a dying player archetype in the league today. Middleton is making it work and has been an incredible fantasy asset and boon for the Bucks taking this next step towards a championship.

The Bledshow’s Ratings are Down

Middleton’s step forward has had some unintended consequences. Eric Bledsoe has historically been an elite fantasy producer on account of his high-volume steals. He was never going to be a main scoring option on this Bucks team like he had been late in his time with the Suns, but his job is to be a bankable third option who could score when called upon and be a bulldog on the perimeter. That panned out for the first couple years in Milwaukee as a top-50 fantasy asset who was scoring in the high teens and stealing at will.

October was a rough month and a sign of things to come. In the first four games, Bledsoe averaged 10.5 points on 36.4% shooting, a far cry from his mid-teens expectation with good percentages for a point guard. The most concerning aspect of the early returns were the two steals across the four game sample.

In November, the Bledshow came back on air with a more palatable 17.1 points on 48.6% shooting. That was all well and good, but there remained a smudge on the screen with just 0.9 steals per game. We’d grown accustomed to 1.5-plus steals to buoy Bledsoe’s appeal and without that, he was just kind of a good fantasy asset that was looking like an overpay.

He yo-yoed back and forth all season, sometimes scoring well and not stealing, other times being a thief on one end and blowing layups on the other. A lot of times, he just looked lost and the Bucks had to go to George Hill in critical moments instead.

The reality of his situation is that he won’t be a high volume scorer as long as he’s on the Bucks and Antetokounmpo runs the show. The steals have to be there to make him an elite (underappreciated) fantasy guy. It’s what keeps him afloat in a shooting slump and the holding factor when everything else hits the fan. What’s more, he isn’t as integral to the Bucks’ success as we may have thought, because of the depth pieces that have stepped up and filled gaps, The next man up attitude isn’t ideal for players who aren’t stars in their own right and Bledsoe fits that mold.

The Bench Mob

One of the biggest strengths of this Bucks team was the lack of concentrated star power. Yes, Giannis is a super megastar but Middleton is no Anthony Davis to his LeBron. He’s not Russell Westbrook for James Harden. Bledsoe took a step back and didn’t produce what was expected. Brook Lopez is what he is. The big calling card of this roster is that all the pieces are just fitting together.

This stretches all the way to the bench with the steady hand of George Hill, the progression and energy of Donte DiVincenzo, the locker room linkup between the Lopez brothers. Kyle Korver was reliable for a big shot in a pinch. Ersan Ilyasova provided NBA-starter production when given the minutes. Pat Connaughton dunked. Marvin Williams came through late in the season through the buyout market as a solid veteran presence that could make a 3-pointer and shore up the defense like Wesley Matthews couldn’t.

The biggest surprise from this second unit was the development of Donte DiVincenzo. The Big Ragu seemed like a reach when the Bucks took him just outside the lottery in 2018 due to his NCAA tournament play and Final Four Most Outstanding Player honor. The first season was a total disaster marred by injury and ineffectiveness. Left heel bursitis knocked him out for a majority of the 2018 season and there was some real doubt about his ability to contribute to the cause. He played hard, he played smart, he made big shots and was a critical component to this roster. The steals and lack of backbreaking mistakes launched him into the top-100 for fantasy purposes.

Another member of the backcourt and a playoff veteran, Hill regularly outperformed Bledsoe and was solid every single night he played. He wasn’t a high-volume passer and didn’t have flashy numbers but the percentages were abnormally high for a small guard. Late-round value and reliability in crunch time from a player no one thinks about is what makes George Hill so critical.

Moving into the frontcourt, the shrewd acquisitions of Korver and Ilyasova have provided the squad with depth and, in Ilyasova’s case, some fantasy goodness when The Greek Freak has to miss time. Even Connaughton had flashes of deep-league value. It’s a blessing in real life but a curse for fantasy because it was hard to predict who would perform when. DiVincenzo and Hill were the constants on both ends of the floor but outside of that, it was a lot of minute counts that were interesting but not actionable, close but not ideal, dependable in real life but not in fantasy. They don’t care about our fantasy teams so shame on them.

The Wes Matthews Debacle

Mr. Wisconsin Basketball 2005 didn’t have to do a lot in his return to Milwaukee. The Marquette product (I’m obligated to say he went to a great school but I can’t because I can’t live like this with him.) just had to stand in the corners, make open 3-pointers and not get embarrassed on defense. He only made 1.6 3-pointers and only shot 39.7% from the field. He got embarrassed on defense and embarrassed everyone with his inability to not be an eyesore. He’s the bane of my existence and my kryptonite. Every single time I fall for him in this situation. I touted him as a waiver wire pickup early in the season because it seemed to make perfect sense that he would be some interpretation of his Dallas years where he hovered around the top-100 as a low-teens scorer who could cash in triples and swipe a ball or two if he was feeling frisky.

He never performs in the moment that’s needed, Donte DiVincenzo should start over him and at this point I just feel like the vendetta is personal. At this point in his career, he is just erratic and there’s no two ways around it. There was a time before the Achilles injury when Wes was a good NBA starter. We know those days are gone but he could have met us in the middle somewhere between Dallas and this tragic version. It’s supposed to be easier when defenses are collapsing around the league MVP. He’s getting less opportunities (24.7 minutes per game) and not cashing in on what he gets. It’s a recipe for disappointment and sadness.

There are at least 400 more words that describe my disdain for how badly this turned out. I’m sad. I’m upset. I’m furious. I’m horribly distraught. I’ve never wanted J.J. Redick to be a Buck again more in my entire life. I just want Wesley Matthews to not be on this team. He isn’t helping. If the NBA comes back, I want to see the redemption arc. Please stay, Giannis. It’s not Wes’s fault, he’s just washed up. It doesn’t snow that much in May.

Fun times are ahead, and this exhibition season gives folks a glimpse at drawing meaningful conclusions – the UDFA who scores 25 points might not end up playing outside of garbage time but fans will be able to sink their teeth into rotations, lineups and find out who was lying about reworking their jump shot in the summer.

The Eastern Conference especially finds itself in a state of flux. LeBron James’ departure swung the door wide open, with Masai Ujiri’s Raptors taking some bold steps to be the first team through. Now that Kawhi Leonard is gone, the Celtics’ presumed title core has been rejiggered and the Sixers’ Big 4 approach has been altered, it’s shaping up like a free-for-all with a widening group of potential contenders.

We’ll run through the West later in the week, but for now here are some Eastern Conference stories to watch out for in the preseason.

Atlanta Hawks

How NBA-ready is Bruno Fernando?

The Hawks look to have some long-term answers at four of the five spots on the floor, with the lone exception coming at center. Alex Len showed up as a vastly improved shooter last season and will enter this year as the starter, but that’s a stopgap solution for a team hoping to ride its young core to contention in the near-ish future.

Enter Bruno Fernando, who should immediately fit in as a rim-runner and rebounder. His pivotal role in Maryland’s offense should serve him well even if he won’t be tasked with much playmaking this season, and the question is whether Fernando’s limited offensive game can hold up in extended minutes. Defensively he’ll be able to provide rim protection, but lateral quickness could be an issue and teams will surely target him in space.

If Fernando looks the part of a ready-made NBA center, he could quickly flip the split of playing time so the Hawks can get a better look at how their long-term pieces fit together. Don’t expect the Hawks to force the issue, but they would undoubtedly be happy if Fernando developed quickly.

Boston Celtics

Offense or defense at center?

When the Celtics signed Enes Kanter, it was assumed that he would slot right in as the team’s starter, replacing Aron Baynes and Al Horford. While Kanter is coming off a solid playoff run after rotting away on the bench in New York, his game does come with extensive defensive deficiencies. Depending on how Brad Stevens wants his team to look, it’s possible that we see one of the other candidates assert themselves as a viable option.

Robert Williams, who started the team’s first preseason contest, is the likely frontrunner of the non-Kanter field. While he fills an extremely narrow lane on offense, he would give the Celtics a potentially elite rim protector and offers the most upside of anyone in the group. Should Stevens opt for a more intimidating defensive group, Williams is the easy call.

There’s also the notion that Kanter can be used as more of a matchup type, drawing the starts against burly centers while coming off the bench to dominate weaker opponents in other games. It’s not dissimilar to how the Raptors used Jonas Valanciunas or how the Bucks used to use Greg Monroe.

Perhaps Daniel Theis, whose versatile game can serve as a happy medium, will stand out. He’ll require fewer offensive touches than Kanter and offers the best spacing of all the options. Newcomer Vincent Poirier will also be competing for time. The Celtics lost a ton of production at the center spot this summer and Stevens now has the chance to remold the team with a distinct new identity. Which player he chooses, assuming nobody asserts themselves entirely as a result of their play, should be revealing.

Brooklyn Nets

Kenny Atkinson’s ‘good problem’ in the backcourt

The Nets have reached the mountaintop, or at least gone as high as you can without having played any games yet. They bottomed out but rebuilt the team in such a way that they could attract two superstar talents. Brooklyn has collected a number of quality players to complement its big pieces, and Kenny Atkinson’s deep rotations have helped develop a lot of players in meaningful situations.

The Nets have received quality play from D’Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie, Joe Harris and Caris LeVert, among others, over the last few seasons. While the team gets credit for helping these players blossom, they’ve all been aided by some lucky breaks. Dinwiddie first broke onto the scene when Jeremy Lin got hurt and became a mainstay when Russell went down in 2017-18. Russell really broke out last season after LeVert went down, and LeVert returned to the lineup while Dinwiddie was sidelined.

While injuries will inevitably strike, Atkinson’s juggling task will only get tougher as each player continues to grow. With four starting-caliber guards, and the presence of Taurean Prince and Rodions Kurucs (and eventually Kevin Durant) soaking up minutes at small forward, the Nets will need to strike a careful balance to make sure everyone gets fed. Brooklyn’s rotation is always busy but we’ll be keeping a close eye on the playing time throughout the preseason.

Charlotte Hornets

Can Willy Hernangomez get it together?

The offensively gifted 25-year-old seems to be running out of chances. The Knicks punted him from the rotation despite a solid rookie campaign, and Hernangomez couldn’t gain any traction after being traded to Charlotte. The team couldn’t afford to deal with his shortcomings last season while they were trying to make the playoffs and convince Kemba Walker to stick around, but there’s really no excuse for Hernangomez to be an occasional DNP-CD this season.

The defense will always be problematic, but the setup is perfect for the Hornets to just grin and bear it. If Hernangomez can’t establish himself as the clear backup to the oft-injured Cody Zeller by beating out the oft-injured Bismack Biyombo, it might just be the final straw. There’s enough offensive skill to keep a rebuilding team interested, but eventually the rubber has to hit the road.

Chicago Bulls

The Kris Dunn dilemma

Dunn was given the starting nod for Chicago’s preseason opener but the team’s actions point to a different long-term vision. They can pump up Tomas Satoransky and Shaq Harrison as guys who can play 1-3 as much as they’d like, but to play them anywhere other than point guard is a major disservice to both them and the team.

That said, Dunn could very well play his way back into the mix with a strong preseason. He’ll have limited opportunities with the Bulls mixing and matching their lineups to get a good look at all four PGs on the roster but it’s not out of the question that he outplays his counterparts. A trade still seems likely at some point but stranger things have happened and we’re likely to see a highly motivated version of Dunn, who went from potential franchise guard to potential DNP-CD in a hurry.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Garland & Sexton

The Cavs took a bit of a risk in drafting Darius Garland fifth overall after he was felled for the season by a torn meniscus in November. Doubly so considering they just took a point guard in the lottery, grabbing Collin Sexton last summer. How these two coexist will determine a lot about Cleveland’s future, and with both more inclined to be scorers we’ll be watching closely to see how things shake out.

Sexton struggled mightily with efficiency last season before a strong burst at the finish, and he still needs some work in terms of shot selection. Garland offers better range and is more of a dynamic scorer in general, but neither really fits a traditional playmaking mold. It can certainly work with the two splitting that load, but how they find a groove playing side by side is going to be the story of the preseason for the Cavs. Keep a close eye on how both players manage without the ball in their hands.

Detroit Pistons

Christian Wood’s big break?

It’s been two seasons of Christian Wood throttling inferior competition, and even a big finish with the Pelicans couldn’t get him a guaranteed spot. It looks as though he’ll be competing with Joe Johnson for the final spot on Detroit’s roster. It’s an interesting battle in that the two competitors provide entirely different things, so Dwane Casey may already have a good idea of who the frontrunner is even if there’s nothing being said publicly.

There’s some dynamic talent at play, and Wood would seem to offer a bit more all-around upside than Thon Maker or Markieff Morris. If the Pistons, who are hoping to actually make noise in the playoffs, and Casey, who has historically had a hard time deviating from plans until his hand is forced, want the safe route, then Wood is going to be facing an uphill battle.

Indiana Pacers

Myles Turner’s shooting

The Pacers are going a little old school with their frontcourt combo of Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis. Most teams are riding with better shooting out of the power forward slots, but Turner and Sabonis are clearly Indiana’s two most talented big men and it’s well worth it to figure out how the pairing functions, and how they can thrive together long-term. There’s pretty clear evidence that Sabonis works best in the paint, so most of the adjusting figures to fall to Turner.

He’ll need to spend more time outside the arc, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him cutting in and out of the paint quickly to give Sabonis room to operate on offense. Turner is a .363 career deep shooter with notable progress in each year of his career, culminating in last season’s .388 mark. Expect him to easily eclipse last year’s career-high 2.6 3-point attempts per game and look out for where those attempts are coming – Turner shot .625 from the corners last season but only took 16 attempts. He took 179 of his threes above the break, hitting at a .369 clip.

Miami Heat

Justise Winslow’s versatility, or lack thereof

Winslow entered the league as a do-it-all prospect who could switch across multiple positions, which sort of left him in no man’s land on a Miami roster that had a few similar players. Eventually, the question has to be asked: if you play multiple positions but never truly excel at any of them, are you really versatile after all?

Luckily, Winslow seemed to find his calling as the fill-in point guard when Goran Dragic was injured last season. It’s a position that he’s been vocal about playing going forward, except the Heat have been committed to Dragic as their PG for as long as he’s on the roster. That might be a little bit of lip service considering they tried to trade him this summer, but it’s unlikely that The Dragon would be shuttled aside right away. How those two split the role is going to have a big say in Miami’s results this year, and with expectations cranked up as a result of the Jimmy Butler acquisition, the Heat may face a tough decision.

Winslow has more of a future in Miami than the 33-year-old Dragic. How much are the Heat willing to sacrifice his development at a position where he finally looks comfortable?

Milwaukee Bucks

Who fills the void in Malcolm Brogdon’s absence?

The Bucks predictably found success by stuffing the roster with shooters that can play off of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s elite penetration game. Though they’re still clearly one of the top teams in the East, Milwaukee may struggle to replace Malcolm Brogdon – the team’s fourth-leading assist man and a .408 career 3-point shooter.

Wesley Matthews and Kyle Korver have been brought in but neither can fill the playmaking shoes, and the Bucks’ second units could have trouble with scoring without a clear leader and efficient perimeter scorer who can create his own shot. Perhaps Khris Middleton, who was frustrated by his new role at times last season, is asked to handle a lot of that load.

New York Knicks

Frank Ntilikina

The Knicks’ brass likes to talk a lot. It’s David Fizdale who said that Lance Thomas could be New York’s version of Draymond Green, after all, so you can excuse anyone who chooses to take any audio from MSG with a big grain of salt. Allegedly, the Knicks will have a competition for the point guard spot this season. Allegedly, Frank Ntilikina is part of it.

That’s pretty inconsistent with all the rumors surrounding Ntilikina’s future with the organization, but perhaps New York will bank on a strong World Cup performance creating enough confidence to get Frankie Smokes rolling out of the gates. Odds are that Ntilikina’s NBA career will be best-served by a move to another organization – the Knicks haven’t exercised their option on him yet, after all – but he just might be able to salvage things. New York was very quick to give up on a raw player with obvious defensive merit, and while that’s on brand for the Knicks, some quick proof of improvement could change their tune.

Orlando Magic

Al-Farouq Aminu’s role

It was a bit curious that the Magic signed Al-Farouq Aminu this summer when they have Aaron Gordon and Jonathan Isaac already in the fold, but it’s a move that made more sense after some marinating.

The Magic became a stifling defensive team last season, and Aminu has experience taking on the tough matchups in Portland. Aminu will also provide a little bit of a boost to a team that shot .321 from deep last year and can also chip in on the glass. He’ll help bolster a bench unit that wavered in terms of impact (aside from Terrence Ross) last season and can be elevated into a larger role if need be. Simply put, he’s the sort of defender and complementary contributor that Steve Clifford is likely to love.

His signing is a win-now move from a team that’s really buying into last year’s big step forward, and it’s going to be interesting to see if his steady play can take minutes from either Gordon or Isaac.

Philadelphia 76ers

Josh Richardson’s offensive fit

Richardson is a nice get for Philadelphia, who acquired an ascendant two-way guard in exchange for sending Jimmy Butler to Miami. Over the course of his first four seasons with the Heat, Richardson rose through the pecking order and set a career-high in usage in each campaign. That figures to change in Philly, where he could be look at as the low man on the totem pole.

Although Richardson’s game and flighty efficiency might actually shine with a more limited set of responsibilities, it will be an adjustment for a player who has been on a linear progression as a primary offensive weapon. He’ll be counted on to stretch the floor and will be a major part of the elite defense that the Sixers have assembled (on paper), but we may be able to learn a bit about the team’s offensive plans for Richardson in the preseason. Teams with lots of overhaul tend to deploy their real rotation guys the most in the exhibition season so the Sixers might provide some insightful games.

Toronto Raptors

The big lineup

The Raptors have a ton of changes to work through given their high-profile departures, but despite the huge vacancies at the two and three spots it’ll be how they deploy their three best forwards that merits watching. The combination of Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka and Pascal Siakam played 37 minutes together in the playoffs – after playing zero minutes in the regular season – to a 97.1 ORTG and a 101.5 DRTG, though the added size was crucial in keeping the Sixers off the glass in the postseason.

It would be wise for the Raptors to give Siakam as many minutes as possible at different positions to find the limits of his versatility and although Ibaka found great success as a full-time center, the Raptors are likely short on the shooting that can allow him to really shine as a dump-off or mid-range option on offense. Gasol’s game is malleable enough to fit with most players, especially if a climb in the pecking order eliminates the passivity that defined his worst playoff performances.

This is a team that will lean heavily on its defense this season. Getting their smartest defender, their best rim protector and most athletic player on the court at the same time is going to fit that vibe. At the very least it’s a lineup worth exploring further.

Washington Wizards

Davis Bertans, besides the shooting

It’s already established that Bertans is one of the league’s elite sharpshooters among big men. The Marcus Morris free agency flip-flop took Bertans from a great basketball program in San Antonio, but it sent him to a fantastic opportunity in Washington. It looks as though he’ll enter the season as a starter, and the big question is how well the rest of his game can hold up.

Although Bertans has developed nicely, it’s fair to say that there was a limit on his ceiling with the Spurs. The team was too good to tolerate potential growing pains, and they’ve had capable forwards in place for as long as he was on the roster. Washington isn’t expected to make much noise this season and it’s an environment where Bertans should be tested. The team will be able to let him play through mistakes and carry a heavier burden than he would’ve with the Spurs.

Though his bread-and-butter skill will keep Bertans in the league for a while, he’ll be afforded the chance to shed his reputation as a one-dimensional player. If he looks like a capable defender in the preseason, expect the expectations and excitement to quietly rachet up.