Should the Milwaukee Bucks be the favorites to win the East and NBA Championship?

The Bucks have the best record in the NBA, they haven't lost a game since Jan 21 but according to the Caesars Sportsbook, the Bucks aren't the favorites to win the NBA Championship. In fact, they aren't even favored to win the Eastern Conference.

Should they be?

In fact… should anyone else even be close?

Let's explore.

Milwaukee has a balanced team from top to bottom, with awesome potential on both sides of the ball. Unfortunately, injuries have prevented them from playing their preferred lineup very often. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday and Bobby Portis have each missed at least 14 games, and Middleton has only played in 20 games all season with seven starts. This lack of continuity has had a negative impact on the team offense, limiting them to 18th in team offensive rating on the season. But the offense of this team with the same core finished with the third-best team offensive rating last season and has been top-10 every season in the Giannis era until this one. Based on that history, the Bucks have clear upside to improve their offense as their team gets healthier and starts to play together more as a unit.

On the other side of the ball, on defense, the Bucks have been elite all season...but still have upside to improve even further. Their defense starts in the middle, where both Brook Lopez and Giannis Antetokounmpo have put together excellent campaigns that have both among the shortest odds to win Defensive Player of the Year this season.

The 2023 Women's Fantasy Basketball season has officially arrived! Create or join a league today to get started.

Sign up for free!

In fact, the Bucks have been top-2 in the NBA in team Defensive Rating in three of the past five seasons, with last season (14th) as their