While the Miami Heat were the biggest surprise of the Disney bubble, the Milwaukee Bucks weren’t far off — but in a bad way, of course. Giannis Antetokounmpo and company were a massive disappointment.
But most expect the Bucks to outperform the Heat next season. In fact, some still consider Milwaukee the favorite to come out of the East in 2020-21, including ESPN — which recently shared its “way-too-early” edition of NBA Power Rankings.
Voted on by “a group of more than 40 reporters, insiders and editors,” ESPN’s list features five Eastern Conference teams in the league’s top-10. The Bucks are the East’s No. 1 team at third overall, then there’s the Boston Celtics (No. 7 overall), Philadelphia 76ers (No. 8) and Miami Heat (No. 9).
Rounding out ESPN’s top-10 are the Brooklyn Nets:
If the Nets were a trendy Brooklyn restaurant, 2019-20 was the aperitif and 2020-21 looks like the main course. Having missed all of this season following his Achilles rupture in the 2019 NBA Finals, Kevin Durant should be ready to go for training camp. So should the other players, including Kyrie Irving, who sat out the Nets’ playoff sweep at the hands of Toronto. Brooklyn does have to re-sign starting wing Joe Harris and consider possible trades to better complement Durant and Irving, but the sky is the limit for a talented group under rookie coach Steve Nash.
Who knew a healthy Durant and Irving weren’t enough to be considered at least the second-best team in the East?
At least Caesars Sportbook — who provided odds for the next NBA champion for ESPN’s list — thinks the Nets deserve better. Caesars Sportbook has the moneyline on the Nets to win it all in 2021 set at +1000, second-best among Eastern Conference teams to only the Bucks (+600).