Bucks/NBA Prediction Thread - Locks at 6:00 p.m.

[MikeIsGood]

Honestly I don't have a lot of faith until they prove they can stay healthy. Hope they do, in which case my faith is restored and I have high expectations, but I/we don't have much reason to believe that's going to happen IMO.

I think we're better than last season. 50+ wins and beyond the first round. Stopping there.

[crkone]

52-30. Quite a bit of load management again. Bow out in the ECF.

[SupremeHustle]

We should predict when Middleton will play. I'll say December 8th.

[Thunder Muscle]

It feels like we got really old overnight and we’re hoping for health, etc to give us hope but in reality we’ll be 4 years removed from 2021 and its going to take everything to break right for us to win a ring. I expect alot of load management this season as well.

Record: 49-33, 4th or 5th seed. 2nd Round exit. I think the team is blown up after this season. Lillard will be dealt if a decent return is offered. Lopez won’t be back and they’ll look to move on from expiring player opt in’s (Pat, Portis, Middleton). I don’t foresee them moving Giannis but the noise will be there being that he is 30 and any championship hopes seem like a long shot.

NBA Finals: OKC over Boston.

[steger_3434]

49-32 5th in the East. First round loss.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ryan5UW]

I'm just here so I can edit this post at a later date.

This guy stole my bit. Then again, you've all been stealing my bits for decades. Pay me.

Steal? I thought the correct term was "remake"?

[CharityStripe34]

We should predict when Middleton will play. I'll say December 8th.

No, that'll be when "serious progress" happens. Id say February right before the ASB. And solely because the "Khris is progressing" phrase is the best running Bucks forum joke.

Sent from my Pixel 8 Pro using RealGM mobile app

[Wisky4life]

3rd in conference. Win the chip.

I predict one bigger trade at deadline that shock some people. Not the biggest of trades but definately not on any radar.

Sent from my SM-G973U using RealGM mobile app

[msiris]

We should predict when Middleton will play. I'll say December 8th.

Dec 24. I thought he had minor surgery a while back. I know old people who get major surgery and they come back faster then he does.

[emunney]

We should predict when Middleton will play. I'll say December 8th.

Dec 24. I thought he had minor surgery a while back. I know old people who get major surgery and they come back faster then he does.

Different standards, maybe

[brettski]

Bucks go 47-35. We mostly playing .500 ball but have one good win streak in us that gets us into the high 40s.
Lots of missed time due to a combo of injuries and load management.
Doc has another second round failure.

No Bucks player gets an individual award. Giannis makes an all NBA team but that's it.

[ReginaldDwight]

54-28 Title winning year. Giannis goes off and Dame gets his title.

[ClassicJack]

45-37

[ReasonablySober]

I'm just here so I can edit this post at a later date.

This guy stole my bit.

I INVENTED THE BIT

I'm so offended.

[stillgotgame]

48-34 in the regular season, 2nd round exit.

Fun fact: Doc Rivers has led teams into the playoffs in 20 seasons. Of those 20 he's gotten out of the 2nd round only 3 times.
Hopefully we defy the odds.

[Packbuckman]

Dam there is a lot of negative predictions lol
This team was 30-13 with griffin as coach and this team with Doc having a training camp plus Dame 2nd year Trent for Beasley. And wright Prince for crowder Gallo this team is just deeper and better.

[blazza18]

Dam there is a lot of negative predictions lol
This team was 30-13 with griffin as coach and this team with Doc having a training camp plus Dame 2nd year Trent for Beasley. And wright Prince for crowder Gallo this team is just deeper and better.

There are a plenty of optimistic predictions too! 30-13 record under Griffin was very misleading tbf and we got worse under Doc.

[stellation]

Bucks in 6.
Flintstone throws pizza party.
I start drinking lemonade in tumblers at bars, when people ask me what I'm drinking I say "oh, this little thing?" whilst batting my eyelashes at them then say "it's a double virgin" and they say "you are a fascinating man" and I say "buy me one?".

[old skool]

I will be disappointed with fewer than 50 wins.

I will not be surprised if I am disappointed. Or if I am pleased.

It will be interesting to see if Lillard can be a winner, not just a superstar. Last year he was a scorer, not so much a shooter. Last season it looked to me that Lillard and Beasley loafed (conserved energy) on defense so they could score at will. When Rivers took over for Griffin, he emphasized defense and the team obliged, but at the cost of diminished offensive production. I don't have great statistics to prove that, but that was how things looked to me.

The youth experiment with Green and Ajax was a flop. Beverly was a worthwhile veteran addition, but not worthwhile enough to overcome the Jay Crowder minutes.

I question if Lopez, Antetokounmpo and Portis can stay as healthy as last season. They lack size.

[rilamann]

I have been pessimistic about the Buck's chances to do anything major for the past 2 seasons now.

But even in 2023 & 2024 when I went into those seasons without a ton of optimism, I still thought we had a puncher's chance to maybe make a run in the playoffs if everything fell in our favor.

This will be the first season since 2017'18 where I feel like this Bucks team has no real chance of reaching the NBA Finals.

Giannis is still at worst the 2nd best player in the league and Giannis alone should be good enough for the Bucks to win about 50 games assuming no major injuries for Giannis in the regular season.

But I can't see this team making a serious run in the playoffs. They're too old, too injured and too flawed.

Bucks are still hilariously relying on Middleton too much, who in the rare instance when can even suit up, is a shadow of the guy he once was.

Dame is a 34 year old volume shooter who doesn't even try to play defense. And a horrible fit next to Giannis.

Giannis still a top 2 player in the league IMO. But can't stay healthy beyond March.

If the Bucks can somehow manage to be healthy in April and if they draw the right match-up in round 1, they can maybe win a playoff series and get out of the first round for the first time since 2022. IMO that is the ceiling along with around a 50-32 regular season record.

I actually think the Bucks will be a bit better overall and a bit more entertaining to watch this season vs last season just because we added a high quality guy like Trent and then a couple other guys have a chance to improve our depth a bit from last season. Doc has a chance to be a better head coach with a full off-season and training camp.

But at the end of the day, basketball is not an old man's game. And one of the biggest reasons why basketball is not an old man's game is the fact that when you're old, it becomes incredibly easy to seriously injure yourself by simply just playing basketball. As long as the Bucks are old and continue to get older, the injuries will inevitably continue.

As far as overall predictions. I think Boston pretty much cruises back to the Finals, maybe the Knicks can give them a run for their money but that's probably about it. I actually liked the Knick's chances to beat Boston and come out of the east before they made the trade for KAT. KAT is the big man version of Dame, good individual talent who puts up nice numbers, but not a guy you want if you're trying to win a championship.

The west is tough to call but I am going to go with the Thunder to come out of the west. The trade to get Caruso will be huge for them.

I'll go Celtics Thunder in the finals with the Celtics winning in 6.