Milwaukee Bucks: 5 bold predictions for 2017-18 NBA season

3. Milwaukee will win 48 games for the first time in 17 years

The 2000-01 NBA season was the last great Milwaukee team, when Ray Allen, Sam Cassell and Glenn Robinson led the Bucks to the conference finals. Since then, the team has neither won a playoff series nor won more than 46 games in a single season.

Last season the Bucks won 42 games, just clearing .500 to claim the sixth-best record in the Eastern Conference. With the movement of the offseason, Milwaukee should improve on that record just by staying the course. Of the teams around them in the standings, Atlanta, Chicago and Indiana all project to be worse.

In fact, only a handful of teams in the East would project to be better than last season, and Milwaukee is the best of the group. Even the Boston Celtics, who added Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving this summer will be hard-pressed to match their win total from last season as the new pieces adjust.

In addition to the path to 48 wins being easier, the Bucks themselves should be better. The team’s core is young enough to be better next season, with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Thon Maker, Malcolm Brogdon and Tony Snell all in line for natural growth. Khris Middleton is back for a full season after missing half of last season.

Natural growth, a less competitive Eastern Conference and a true superstar are the way to 48 wins for this team. While unexpected injuries could slow them down, this team has the talent to win 48 games and set itself up for postseason success.