For the Milwaukee Bucks, 2018 will be remembered as a transition year; perhaps the most important in franchise history.
It began in January, when the team dismissed Jason Kidd after three-plus seasons as head coach. Joe Prunty took the helm for the remainder of the season but come summer, it was up to general manager Jon Horst to make a hire that could define or doom the Bucks for years to come.
After settling on Mike Budenholzer for the job, the Bucks have ascended to new heights and after years of marketing hype and clever — at least in the marketing department’s mind — branding, the future finally arrived for the Milwaukee Bucks in 2018.
With Budenholzer unlocking the full potential of a talented roster that is built around Giannis Antetokounmpo and the opening of a long-awaited new arena in Downtown Milwaukee, it’s a new era for the Bucks, who are on a mission to win the franchise’s first championship since Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar brought home the crown in 1971.
Here’s a look back at 2018 and a glimpse of what’s to come in the new year:
Biggest Move: Firing Kidd in January was a good start. It became obvious that the team’s development and progress had stalled under the Hall of Famer’s bristling and often undefined style. Things didn’t get much better under interim coach Joe Prunty — though the team did finish above .500 and pushed the Celtics to seven games before another first-round playoff exit — but Milwaukee appeared to hit a home run when it hired Mike Budenholzer to take over the reigns in May.
Biggest Disappointment: After qualifying for the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2003-04 seasons, the seventh-seeded Bucks pushed No. 2 Boston to seven games in their first-round playoff series but failed to advance past the first round for the eighth consecutive series.
Most Memorable Moment: Barely a month into the regular season, the Bucks served notice that they’re not to be taken lightly this season, throttling the defending champion Warriors, 134-111, at Oracle Arena. Yes, Golden State was playing without Draymond Green and yes, Stephen Curry missed most of the second half with an injury but the Warriors are still the Warriors and the Bucks made it clear that they were for real.
What’s Next: The Bucks will wrap up the calendar year with the best record in the NBA and open 2019 with four straight home games, starting Tuesday night against the Pistons. They have a commanding lead in the Central Division, a favorable path to home-court advantage in the playoffs as well as a legitimate Most Valuable Player candidate having a record-setting season. But little the Bucks accomplish this year will mean anything if they can’t get past the first round of the playoffs — something they haven’t done since the 2000-2001 team fell to Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Reasons For Optimism: With LeBron James shifting to the Lakers, the Bucks arguably have the Eastern Conference’s best player in Antetokounmpo who at just 24 years old, hasn’t quite yet reached his prime and a supporting cast that’s flourishing in a legitimate offensive system. The team looks better-equipped and better-prepared to end its frustrating streak of early playoff exits than any time in the last 17 years.
Reason For Concern: There’s still a long way to go between now and the postseason and while Milwaukee has yet to lose consecutive games this season, the team has shown a frustrating propensity to play down to its opponents at times. Assuming they earn home-court in the first round, the Bucks will be entering the postseason with legitimate expectations — and an open path without James in Cleveland — for the first time ever. That’s uncharted territory for a team that’s been playing with house money in the postseason for the better part of a decade. Can they handle the pressure? Stay tuned.
