Elimination: The Milwaukee Bucks Can Now Prep For Next Year

The last 24 hours haven’t been particularly fun for anyone. Well, unless you’re a fan of the Toronto Raptors, then it’s been pretty spectacular.

But for the Milwaukee Bucks and their fans, it has been gut-wrenching. Nerve-wracking. Spirit-crushing. Losing 4-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals is bad enough, but it’s worse to have lost the series after taking a 2-0 lead, necessitating dropping four straight games in order for the matchup to last only six games.

It is entirely possible that the Bucks’ window has passed. It is equally possible that it is only just beginning to open. It is impossible to know how things will shake out, but we have plenty of time to hash them all out. In the interest of setting the stage, take a look at our February primer (and subsequent follow-up) that goes through the timeline of the Bucks’ various decisions that need making.

But these are not the only things we’ll be discussing. Giannis Antetokounmpo will presumably win the MVP...but what can he further add to his game? Khris Middleton was a stud all year long and defended Kawhi Leonard...but was it enough, and is he really going to get a max contract? Is Eric Bledsoe’s playoff neutralization an aberration, or a sign of a troubling trend? Brook Lopez, Nikola Mirotic, Malcolm Brogdon, George Hill...we all want them back, but will they be? What will D.J. Wilson become? Ditto for Donte DiVincenzo and Sterling Brown. In the game of contractual musical chairs, will Ersan Ilyasova or Tony Snell (or neither) return? Mike Budenholzer? (That’s it, no specific question, just a stating of the name of our head coach. There’s a lot there.)

This is just the start of the questions we’ll need to focus on this summer. Our content has very much been driven by what the community thinks is important, so here’s your first chance to tell us. What burning questions do you desire answers to? What angles can we take when looking at the team’s past (and future) to determine what they might do (and what might work)? How can the Milwaukee Bucks actually build on this campaign and go even further?