2025 Milwaukee Bucks Preseason Preview

The Milwaukee Bucks finished last season with a record of 49 wins and 33 loses. They lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Indiana Pacers. Milwaukee started with a record of 30-13 last season before making a head coaching change and bringing in Doc Rivers.

(AP Photo/Morry Gash)

The trade for Damian Lillard before the start of last season meant losing defensive guard Jrue Holiday, and the Bucks fished with a defensive ration of 115.8 (19th in the league). The question for Lillard, who had spent his first 11 seasons in Portland, is can he get back to his old shooting form? Lilliard, the 3pt champion last year, shot .354 from 3 on 8.5 attempts per game. This was the worst make percentage of any player who averaged more than 8 attempts.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had a year very similar to his two MVP seasons last year, and the Bucks postseason may have looked very different had Giannis not been injured.

Time is of the essence for Milwaukee. Giannis, who will turn 30 in December, is only the 7th oldest player on this roster, and some decisions will need to be made this coming offseason. Brook Lopez, who makes 23 million dollars this year, will turn 37 this season during the last year of his contract. The Bucks will need to decide if they’d like to see Lopez return, and if so, what that means for Bobby Portis, who could deny his player option and likely find a larger long term contract as his output has exceeded his pay and his role has been shadowed by Giannis.

For now this is the Milwaukee Bucks. Doc Rivers will look to take this squad into the playoffs healthy and see what they can do from there. Milwaukee is as all in as it gets and won’t control their own pick until at least 2031. Outside of their top 9, no player has more than 2 years of experience and none have proven that they can contribute to winning NBA games as of yet - so this is the team who will look to get back to the NBA finals after losing in the first round the past two years.