The Milwaukee Bucks have been the best team in the NBA this season, and it's not particularly close.
At 40-13, Mike Budenholzer's team has the league's best record by a comfortable margin, and is on pace to win a staggering 62 games. The difference between the Bucks' top-ranked +9.9 net rating and the Golden State Warriors' second-ranked +7.4 is 2.5 points per 100 possessions, bigger than the discrepancy between the reigning champions' mark and that of the seventh-ranked Indiana Pacers.
Milwaukee is the only team that ranks top-five in both offensive and defensive rating, a traditional hallmark of championship teams. Giannis Antetokounmpo and company are 3-1 against the Toronto Raptors, 2-0 against the Denver Nuggets, and beat the Warriors by 23 points at Oracle Arena.
Oh, and general manager Jon Horst just added Nikola Mirotic at the trade deadline, too, without losing any rotation player or future first-round pick. The scariest part about Milwaukee? There's a very good chance this team gets even better.
With the trade deadline having come and gone, the next player-movement bonanza comes on the buyout market, where many notable veterans playing for losing teams will end up after reaching financial settlements with their incumbent clubs. The Bucks, obviously, will be an attractive destination for those players, perhaps even having their pick of the cream of the crop.
Which buyout candidates should Horst target? Below are three players who may soon hit the buyout market that could help Milwaukee live up to its gaudy statistical resumé with a championship come June.
Not among them: Carmelo Anthony, whose aversion to team defense, propensity for ball-stopping, and inefficient jump-shooting would make him an odd signing for any team with championship aspiration, let alone one that plays like Budenholzer's.
3. Wes Matthews
The Bucks are deep in the backcourt, with rock-solid starters Eric Bledsoe and Malcolm Brogdon in addition to solid bench pieces like George Hill, Tony Snell, and Pat Connaughton. But, that doesn't mean an upgrade isn't worth exploring, especially when the fit would be as seamless as Matthews'.
He's no longer the defender he was in his prime, but he fights like hell on that side of the ball and is stout enough to check big opposing wings in a pinch – a trait none of the players mention above possess. Matthews is shooting 40.4 percent on catch-and-shoot triples, too, and has enough juice off the dribble to attack close-outs and work second-side ball screens. He will be among the most highly sought after players on the buyout market, but be hard-pressed to find a suitor that affords him a better chance to contribute to a potential title team than Milwaukee.
2. Robin Lopez
The Chicago Bulls, for reasons completely unknown, have been reluctant to grant Lopez a buyout despite being an established veteran playing for a losing team – who's also cutting into the playing time of the team's frontcourt of the future, Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter. Though the Warriors are reportedly his preferred destination, Lopez would no doubt jump at the chance to join the Bucks, backing up his brother, Brook.
Sophomore big man D.J. Wilson has come on strong of late, and is a better fit for Milwaukee offensively than Lopez due to his 42.6 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Lopez has barely experimented with the long ball this season, but would prove immensely valuable to the Bucks nonetheless in a potential postseason matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Wilson isn't nearly strong or physical enough to bang with Joel Embiid, and the relatively undersized Mirotic and Ersan Ilyasova are the only other viable bigs on the roster other than Lopez. The best way to contain Embiid, or perhaps even DeMarcus Cousins in the NBA Finals? A second Lopez brother, of course.
1. Garrett Temple
The Memphis Grizzlies guard has good size at 6-foot-6, and a wingspan that allows him to play even longer. He's similar to Snell in that regard, but he has the quickness and coordination to effectively check primary ball handlers, a task best left to Bledsoe and Brogdon.
What if those guys get in foul trouble trying to stay in front of Kemba Walker and Kyrie Irving come the postseason, though? Temple is just an average shooter, but he is knocking down 38.4 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes this season – not far behind Snell's number, and far better than Connaughton's.
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