The Milwaukee Bucks are the forgotten team in the NBA's Eastern Conference now

Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Mike Sykes

Happy Friday, folks! Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you’ve had a great week and that your rhythm wasn’t completely thrown off like mine was because of the Thursday holiday.

Enough about that. Let’s talk about the NBA for a second — specifically the Eastern Conference.

Is it just me or have we forgotten about the Milwaukee Bucks?

The East’s landscape has drastically changed. The 76ers are signing Paul George, which significantly boosts their championship odds. The Knicks — who were the conference’s second-best team in 2024 — just traded for Mikal Bridges. Even the Orlando Magic just made a move for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope that will certainly hurt the Nuggets.

Because of those moves, we’re talking about all those teams right now. And we were already talking about the Celtics because they’re the champs. That’s what happens when you win a championship. Folks think Boston might be a dynasty in waiting.

The talk has been about one of those four teams winning the East for most of the summer. But nobody has anything to say about Milwaukee these days.

I get it. The Bucks just petered out last season. After making the move for Damian Lillard last season, the team fell flat and got eliminated by the Pacers in the first round last year. That was after Milwaukee ousted Adrian Griffin for Doc Rivers who did a worse job running the team.

You can blame the end of the season on injuries. Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounpo were absent at the end of that series against the Pacers. But the Bucks never really felt like a championship threat this season at any point, no matter what the reason. People can’t seem to shake that.

But I think they should.

It’d be a mistake for everyone to forget about the Bucks here. When healthy, this Milwaukee team is easily one of the best in the NBA. It has one of the best trios in basketball: Antetokounmpo, Lillard, and Khris Middleton.

That three-man unit was +17.5 last season in 758 minutes together. Obviously, it would be best if they played together more. Health will always be a huge impediment for this team, considering their core’s age. But still, that’s impressive, especially considering how tumultuous the season was.

Milwaukee is running that same core back. Some may think the core is stale, but with a year of experience and a full training camp, the fit together might look much cleaner than most anticipate.

Does that mean this team will beat the Celtics next year? No. But I don’t think we should talk about Milwaukee as if the team is lightyears behind Philadelphia and New York, either. The Bucks have their share of problems and those teams do, too.

Let’s make sure we’re putting a bit of respect on Milwaukee’s name by the time the season rolls around.

LeBron’s reign isn’t over yet

LeBron James may have just signed a new deal with the Lakers, but folks shouldn’t anticipate this being his last one.

I wrote about how he has a couple of tools at his disposal with his new contract that make me think he’s got a deal or two left in him — partially because I think he’ll end up signing another new one next season.

:

“Two key inclusions in the contract signal that he might be playing more: The included no-trade clause and the player option he’s getting in year two.

The no-trade clause is self-explanatory. James won’t be leaving the Lakers unless he wants to leave the Lakers. The team has to get his approval before trading him and, if he doesn’t want to go anywhere else, he won’t. They’re locked in for better or worse.

What’s more key here, though, is James’s player option in year two. This is a clear flex of power for James. He basically signed a one-year deal with the Lakers here, with the option to come back for a second year next season.”

For those of you who think Bron might try and stick around to get Bryce James on the Lakers, too, this is where it all starts.

Shootaround

— DeMar DeRozan’s cameo in the “Not Like Us” video is legendary. Here’s Mitch Northam with more.

— I absolutely NEED this Kobe jacket Aaliyah Edwards wore. This is awesome. Meg Hall has more.

— This pic of MJ on Tyler Reddick’s car is so awesome. Here’s Mitch again with more.

— Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky with more on how the Lakers are kind of stuck because of LeBron’s new deal.

That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for reading. We appreciate you. Have a fantastic weekend. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️