In fact, his exit could be exactly what Cavaliers need to breathe easy and take decisions that put the team’s future on a great foundation. With LeBron around, team focus had little to do with the future but more to do with present circumstances; paying JR Smith $13 million a season to appease James comes to mind.
As such, every midseason trade season was an eagerly awaited period of transition to get immediate response to a problem no matter how small it was. With LeBron on the team, the national spotlight scorched Cavs as stated by returning Center Channing Frye.
Los Angeles Lakers great history and big market value can handle the pressure of having transcendent talent like James. After all, the team was built by similar talents like Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. Moving forward, competition has been leveled in the East making it an all out brawl for the top spot rather than having a runaway leader of sort.
Philadelphia Sixers, Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors and Indiana Pacers are projected to be top picks to represent the conference in the NBA Finals. Lost in the conversation of championship contenders is Milwaukee Bucks. Despite having a Most Valuable Player Award winner in waiting, in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee doesn’t figure to be part of East’s crown jewels.
Toronto might flush out of the contender conversation in a year or two with Kyle Lowry’s decline coming and Kawhi Leonard’s future undecided.
But Boston has Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier and Jayson Tatum who are under 25 years and will stick around for a while even if Kyrie Irving leaves after the upcoming season. Philadelphia is in a similar position as Boston since its main crop is made up of young talented players. Should Markelle Fultz live up to his production at University of Washington in the NBA, Sixers will be in great hands with him, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid on the roster.
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On the other hand, Milwaukee Bucks has a talented young group that has 2017 Rookie of the Year Malcolm Brogdon, Thon Maker, new recruit Donte DiVincenzo, Sterling Brown and DJ Wilson. However, Milwaukee’s young chaps have limited ceilings and haven’t developed as expected.
Following a breakout year in his debut season, Brogdon shocked the field to win Rookie of the Year Award but his play in the follow up year regressed. Maker was supposed to be the next version of Antetokounmpo-a 6 foot 11 inch Forward with limitless abilities to play all positions on the court-when drafted in 2016. Heading to his third year, Maker is far off Antetokoumpo’s production despite Giannis’ extended playing time in his earlier years. Brown was popular in his first year for his run in with police officers who were overly physical while arresting him than his play on the court.
Regarding main players on the team, Antetokounmpo can take Milwaukee to the playoffs every season on his own. Khris Middleton’s shrewd shot selections and defense coupled with new Coach Mike Budenholzer’s plays gives Milwaukee a big chance to make the semifinals. However, the team falls short on needed quality to clinch a conference final berth and win it. Point Guard Eric Bledsoe ranks as Bucks third best player but his inconsistent shooting stroke at the NBA’s most difficult position makes it difficult to push Milwaukee over the edge.
The Bucks need as much three point shooting as possible and went some way to deal with that problem by signing Brook Lopez. Lopez will ease the attention on Milwaukee’s scorers due to his ability to stretch the defense with his shot and open up spaces for Bucks offense to thrive. Playing Lopez has its flaws since the former Los Angeles Lakers Center is very slow in a fast paced division making him a target on defense. That means Milwaukee has to find a third star for its starting unit and management’s task will be made easier once season 2018-2019 ends.
Bledsoe’s $15 million contract comes off the books and Milwaukee will have to let some players go to get enough money for Middleton’s next contract and Bledsoe’s replacement. The 2019 free agency market has top players like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in it but Milwaukee can fancy its chances with Jimmy Butler. Kemba Walker is an upgrade on Bledsoe but Walker doesn’t sound committed to leave Charlotte Hornets.
Minnesota Timberwolves’ Butler has played in the East before and in a cold city like Milwaukee-Chicago in this case-before which make a plausible target to get. Butler’s four All Star selections and two All NBA selections are what Milwaukee Bucks need to represent the East.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
