It doesn’t take much to understand why oddsmakers recently placed the Bucks back at the top of their sportsbooks.
Damian Lillard, a top-75 player of all time who’s coming off the best scoring and efficiency season of his career at more than 32 points per game, is now in Milwaukee. And he immediately joins forces with the most dominant teammate he’s ever had in two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, a superstar who also logged in excess of 30 points per game last season.
But if the Bucks are to get back to what they ultimately enjoyed in 2021—an NBA title—Milwaukee’s third-best player, Khris Middleton, will almost certainly need to play a significant role. And for anyone who’s been paying attention for the past three years or so, that’s far less of a commentary on Middleton’s ability than of his health.
