Heading into the 2022-23 NBA postseason, the Milwaukee Bucks, led by Giannis Antetokouunmpo, were widely perceived as the favorites to win the championship this summer. They finished with a league-best 58-24 record during the regular season, including a 26-15 record on the road (also the best in the NBA).

But Jimmy Butler, Eric Spoelstra, and the Miami Heat ended Milwaukee's season early. The Heat shocked the world and defeated the Bucks in five games, becoming the first play-in team in league history to go on to win a playoff series. Antetokounmpo did miss several games due to injury — which no doubt played a factor in Miami winning the series — but even in the games Antetokounmpo did play, the Bucks went 0-3.

After a disastrous postseason run that ended earlier than almost everyone thought it would, the Bucks have a crucial offseason ahead of them. And while the Bucks' first-round series loss to the Heat indicates that they have a lot of needs to fill and holes to address, there's one particularly glaring hole on this roster that's hurt the Bucks in the playoffs the last two seasons. So with all of this in mind, let's analyze Milwaukee's biggest need that it must address in the 2023 NBA offseason:

Biggest need Bucks must address in 2023 offseason: lack of wing defenders

The Bucks were one of the best defensive teams all season, but that's because of their dominant defensive frontcourt of Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez, not their backcourt. During the Miami series, Jimmy Butler was torching every defender the Bucks threw his way, whether it was Jrue Holiday, Joe Ingles, or Khris Middleton.

Holiday is an elite defensive player, but only when he's guarding players at or near his size. He has historically struggled to guard some of the best wings in the game, as Celtics star Jayson Tatum also got the better of Holiday in last year's Eastern Conference semifinals series. And Joe Ingles should never have to defend a player of Butler's caliber in a playoff series. He's a league-average defender at the very best, and the fact that he spent a decent chunk of time guarding Butler is an indictment of the glaring lack of wing defenders on this roster.

So if no Bucks on the current roster can guard elite wings, this begs the question of who they should trade for during the offseason. Among high-profile players, OG Anunoby stands out as someone who would fit like a glove in Milwaukee. He's one of the top wing defenders in the game with great size (6'7″) and a knack for coming up with steals (he averaged 1.9 steals per game last season, the most in the NBA). However, the Bucks would likely have to break the bank to acquire his services, as he's just 25 years old and is fresh off a career year in Toronto.

If the Bucks want to win a championship in the near future, they need to get tougher and bulkier at the wing position. A wing rotation of Grayson Allen, Ingles, and Middleton isn't going to cut it defensively against Eastern Conference contenders like the Heat and Celtics with star power at the position. So here's to hoping that Bucks general manager Jon Horst actively works the phones this summer in hopes of trading for a wing who can defend at a high level.