Milwaukee's first season after the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade will lean on a deep guard room, a crowded center rotation and a forward group full of question marks.
The Milwaukee Bucks will open camp with a roster that looks nothing like the one that ended last season, because the July trade that sent forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and forward Bobby Portis to Miami brought back four young rotation players plus a lottery pick and handed the franchise a full reset.
New head coach Taylor Jenkins inherits a team that went 32-50 and saw a run of nine straight playoff appearances end, and the simplest way to understand what he has now is to rank the position groups from best to worst.
Guards Are the Clear Strength
Guard Tyler Herro is the headliner, a hometown scorer who grew up in the Milwaukee area and averaged 20.5 points in an injury-shortened final season with the Heat.
"I probably have the biggest chip on my shoulder that I've had in my career, coming to Milwaukee," Herro said after arriving this summer, and there is a strong case that he should be the building block everything else forms around.
The depth behind him is what wins this group first place.
Guard Ryan Rollins averaged 17.3 points last season, guard Kevin Porter Jr. put up 17.4 a game before injuries cut his year to 38 appearances, and guard AJ Green hit better than 41 percent of his threes.
Milwaukee then used the No. 10 pick on guard Brayden Burries, who led Arizona in scoring as a freshman during a Final Four run, and added guard Kasparas Jakucionis in the Miami trade.
On most nights, three of the four best Bucks will be guards.
The balance helps Jenkins too, since he can pair ball-handlers or surround Herro with shooting, and the lineups can change night to night without the offense falling apart.
Centers Bring a Real Battle
Center Myles Turner is the steady piece, an established starter who averaged 11.9 points while protecting the rim and spacing the floor, and center Kel'el Ware arrived from Miami as the young challenger with the tools to take the job eventually.
There is already a real debate about which of them should start, which is a healthy problem for a rebuilding roster, and center Jericho Sims gives Jenkins a physical third option.
The group ranks second because it is deep and balanced, even if nobody in it is a star, and that depth will protect the young roster on the nights when games get physical.
Forwards Are the Question
Forward Kyle Kuzma, who averaged 13.0 points last season, is the most proven name in the group, and that sentence is the problem.
Forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. came over in the trade as a smart connecting piece, and forward Nate Ament, the No. 13 pick whose draft rights came from Miami, offers long-term upside without a defined role yet.
Nobody here profiles as a first option, so the forward spots rank last, and any realistic set of expectations for this season has to start from that problem.
Herro has already pushed back on the idea that Milwaukee will not win many games, and the guard depth supports his optimism, so the season likely comes down to how quickly the forwards catch up to the rest of the roster.
