Literally three or four weeks ago I was open to be convinced that the likes of the Philadelphia 76ers or Brooklyn Nets would be able to deny Milwaukee the East’s top slot. Since then, both of those teams have been saddled by an unending slew of bad news about uncooperative star guards. Against all odds, both situations look far from resolution just as the regular season gets underway as Ben Simmons hilariously returns to Philly’s locker room and Kyrie does Kyrie things.
Maybe fixes are on their ways in the form of trades or meaningful changes in city-specific Covid vaccine mandates, but for now I’m quietly comfortable in declaring Milwaukee the early favorites to capture the Eastern Conference.