Predicting the Eastern Conference standings: Where will the Pacers finish?

1. Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks had the best record in the entire NBA last season. They still will have reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. They shelled out the money to retain his right-hand man, Khris Middleton. The completely revitalized Brook Lopez will still hold down the 5 spot, and Eric Bledsoe will remain one of the more underrated guards in the East. They still have Mike Budenholzer too, fresh off his Coach of the Year award.

Oh, and their bench will be great again too. George Hill is back, as is Ersan Ilyasova. They also added some great bench shooting with the additions of Kyle Korver and Wesley Matthews, who should be absolutely perfect fits in Budenholzer’s system. Robin Lopez is also now in the mix to back up his brother.

The only real negative from the Bucks’ summer was the loss of Malcolm Brogdon to the Indiana Pacers. While this is a heavy blow, Milwaukee is still incredibly deep at essentially every position and should be more than able to recover from Brogdon’s departure.

Until proven otherwise, the Milwaukee Bucks should not be overlooked in the East, especially while Giannis is playing at this level.

So there you have it! Once again, the Indiana Pacers finish 5th in the East, and Giannis and the Bucks end up with another regular season conference title. What would you change in your own personal rankings? Let us know!