The Milwaukee Bucks are one of the dark horse candidates to take the East by storm, thanks to LeBron James' departure from the Cleveland Cavaliers, leaving the Eastern Conference wide open for the first time in his 15-year career.

Yet most are expecting the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, and Philadelphia 76ers to be the frontrunners to take the crown. New Bucks addition Brook Lopez warns against underestimating the potential his team has to come away with the throne.

“Absolutely, we feel like that. We definitely think the East is wide open,” said Brook Lopez, according to Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype. “It’s going to be such a fun, exciting time in the East and it’s going to be super competitive. There are a lot of teams that can do [big] things, from Toronto to Boston to Philly – you just go down the list and it’s clear that the East is as exciting as it’s been in a long time. I think we’re very confident that we can, no question, win the East.”

The Bucks went to seven games with the Celtics and lost against an undermanned Boston roster, but one that managed to come within one win of the NBA Finals due to the coaching from Brad Stevens and the abundance of young talent displayed by Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier, and rookie Jayson Tatum.

It will be up to Giannis Antetokounmpo an company to prove critics wrong and emerge as one of the frontrunners for the Eastern Conference, now hoping this current roster can make a dent by getting a statement win against these three teams.