National Basketball Association

Milwaukee Bucks Preseason Preview: October 3 at Chicago Bulls

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Milwaukee Bucks take on the Chicago Bulls on October 3 to open up the Bucks preseason. Who will emerge victorious?

Finally, after months on months of waiting, Milwaukee Bucks basketball is back! The Bucks have their first preseason game of the year on October 3, when they take on the Chicago Bulls in Chicago.

There are a lot of questions surrounding the Bucks this season–even more than usual, after the injury suffered by Khris Middleton. This preseason game will give some answers to a lot of those questions, including who will step in to start in Middleton’s stead.

Right now it seems like Rashad Vaughn will get that nod–in Lukas Harkins’ starting five projections, he calls it as Matthew Dellavedova, Vaughn, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jabari Parker and Miles Plumlee.

That assessment seems sound considering everything we’ve heard from Bucks coach Jason Kidd so far. That group will square off against one of the more talked about teams of the summer, as the Chicago Bulls will start their star players against the Bucks.

Rajon Rondo, Dwyane Wade, Jimmy Butler, a power forward yet to be named and Robin Lopez will be the Bulls first lineup of the season, according to Mike McGraw of the Chicago Daily Herald.

This team has been a focal point of NBA talk all summer, and it’ll be exciting to see them in action for the first time ever when the Bulls host the Bucks. There are obvious concerns about the spacing of that lineup–depending on the power forward, Butler could be the only close to capable shooter on the floor–but the star power is undeniable.

No matter how they play, it’s going to be so weird to watch Wade suit up for a team that isn’t the Miami Heat. Nobody figured Wade would ever leave the Heat, but here we are.

This might be a rare occasion when the Milwaukee Bucks can be the better three-point shooting team. If the Bucks start Vaughn and Dellavedova they could jack up a lot of threes on a Bulls team that should be suspect defensively.

Rondo has never been a great defender, and Wade is coming up on his 35th birthday in January. A big key to this game–or at least to the first half, when the starters will actually be in the game–will be seeing if the Bucks can take advantage of Chicago’s guards on offense.

Getting in the paint could be a challenge against Robin Lopez, especially if Bobby Portis ends up getting the start next to him. Lopez is a strong defensive center who can give opposing players a lot of trouble around the rim.

Seeing how Milwaukee uses Malcolm Brogdon will be interesting in this game. The Bucks seem to be looking at him as a point guard, despite Brogdon playing more of a shooting guard position in college.

There’s a chance he ends up serving as the primary backup to Dellavedova, with Michael Carter-Williams seeing more time at shooting guard instead.

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That shooting guard position will be the second-most interesting one to watch for Bucks fans. Point guard, small forward and power forward are all basically set with solid starters.

Shooting guard is still open, and center is as well. The difference is that the players jockeying for position at shooting guard make around $6 million combined.

The three centers fighting for minutes make $42 million combined. Seeing how Kidd approaches the logjam there with Plumlee, Greg Monroe and John Henson will be very interesting.

It’s unwise to overreact to any one game, and especially any one preseason game. That being said, this will be fans’ first look at a brand-new Bucks team, and that’s exciting.

At the end of the day, remember that nothing Kidd and the Bucks do in this game will necessarily reflect what the team does in the regular season, and have fun watching this! Bucks basketball is finally back, and it won’t leave for several months!

The game is on Monday, October 3 at 7 p.m. Unfortunately the only preseason game Fox Sports Wisconsin is covering is the home game against the Dallas Mavericks, so fans will have to find other ways to tune in.

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