Not a huge shocker.
A major point of discussion prior to the NBA trade deadline last week was whether or not the Bucks were true title contenders given the injury question marks surrounding Khris Middleton, recent postseason injuries to Giannis Antetokounmpo, plus the age of Damian Lillard and Brook Lopez. With health, that’s an outstanding top four, but some fans thought an injury was more of a “when” question than an “if.” Now one of those names is out, replaced by the younger, more questionably-fitting Kyle Kuzma.
Still, prior to the season, most oddsmakers had the Bucks among the top several best bets for the NBA title. That was before a 2-8 start, though, and while subsequent surges up the standings followed by slight falls from those heights have dropped their odds little by little, nothing dropped them as far in one fell swoop as their activity at the deadline. Let’s check in with FanDuel’s odds over the course of the year…
Milwaukee began the season at +1000, in sixth but within 150 of Denver, Minnesota, Dallas, and OKC, who all trailed the defending champs in Boston at +350. That dipped a bit in the first couple months of the season, of course, but around New Year’s, they were around +1800. One week ago, prior to the Middleton trade, FanDuel and most other sportsbooks had the Bucks around +2500. As of today, however, they’re +3200, in eighth behind the Celtics, Thunder, Cavs, Knicks, Nuggets, Lakers, and Grizzlies, in that order.
That’s reflected in SB Nation’s latest Reacts polls, conducted nationally. You won’t find the Bucks among the top six vote-getters for who fans think will win it all this year. They’d be one of the 13% of other teams not listed below:
I can’t disagree with the top two, but I really don’t think the Lakers will be able to put it together this season, especially without a starting-caliber center. The Warriors are also a game above .500 right now, and while they might get out of the play-in after landing a motivated Jimmy Butler, I see no way they make it past the first round if they’re on the Thunder’s side of the bracket. It’s tough to see them getting by the Nuggets too.
Interestingly, the Bucks’ highest-profile deadline acquisition shows up as a distant fifth as an answer to which deadline trade will have the biggest impact, behind the four big stars moved last week:
I’m not sold on Kuzma’s fit with this team at all, especially once Giannis returns. I’ll withhold final judgment, but I don’t think Kuzma will get enough touches to make a true impact as a scorer, especially when playing alongside Damian Lillard and Giannis. I don’t think he’s efficient enough as a scorer or reliable enough as a shooter to capitalize on all the looks he’ll get in this offense. Maybe if he was better than a 33% career shooter from deep.
What do you think about these odds or poll results? Are they too high or too low on the Bucks? Let us know in the comments.