The goal for the Milwaukee Bucks this year is obvious: win the Finals.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, the team’s lead star, has made that clear again and again and he is acting like a man who is more dedicated than ever before.
He’s not alone: the whole team is driven to return to the Finals and claim another ring.
Khris Middleton (offseason wrist surgery) is expected to miss the first few weeks of the regular season, per @ShamsCharania pic.twitter.com/AgrI5bhk6X
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 17, 2022
This upcoming season might result in a championship but it’ll start without one of the team’s biggest stars.
Khris Middleton will not begin the year with his team and will miss at least the first few weeks of 2022-23 as he continues to recover from wrist surgery in the offseason.
Not having Middleton hurts and recent history proves that.
However, if the team has to lose the three-time All-Star at least they are doing so at the start of the season.
Mending Middleton
The Bucks lost Middleton when they needed him most last season.
He went down with an MCL sprain in the first round of the postseason against the Chicago Bulls.
The team was able to push forward without him but they eventually fell to the Boston Celtics, partly because they didn’t have the firepower that Middleton brings.
The forward averaged 20.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists in 2021-22 before his injury.
He is considered the team’s second-most important player behind Antetokounmpo and he is especially consequential in the postseason.
The team knows this and that’s why they are relieved that he is missing the start of the season and not the end of it.
They are willing to lose him for some of the regular season if it means he will be healthy when the postseason kicks off.
The Bucks want nothing short of total victory and they will need Middleton’s help to get it.
NEXT: Giannis Antetokounmpo Rattles The Rim In Preseason Game