Takeaways from Bucks’ preseason, including Giannis’ workload, Middleton’s injury and more

As long as the Milwaukee Bucks have star Giannis Antetokounmpo in his prime, they begin every NBA season with championship expectations.

Despite losing Khris Middleton, arguably their second-best player, for the final 10 games of the 2022 playoffs with a sprained MCL in his left knee, the Bucks took the eventual Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics to seven games before losing in an epic second-round playoff series. Milwaukee enters the 2022-23 season with the third-highest odds — behind last year’s two Finals teams, Boston and the Golden State Warriors — to win its second NBA championship in three years, according to Caesars Sportsbook.

The Bucks have won 50 games in three of the past four seasons (and they were on pace to win 50 games during a pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season), and they’re sticking to a formula that works, especially when their Big Three — Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Jrue Holiday — are healthy. Put simply by Bucks general manager Jon Horst: “We believe in our group. It’s a group that’s proven they can win.”

That belief was reiterated by the Bucks’ actions this offseason, when the team decided to run it back with the highest roster retention rate in the NBA. Of the 20 players on the preseason roster, 16 were a part of the organization last season, the most in the league. Each of their top nine players by minutes played last season return this season, including 13 of the top 15.

“It’s just nice to have the same people around, people that you’ve won a championship with,” Antetokounmpo said at media day. “And we try to work harder and get better to win another one. You don’t see it very often in the NBA, when you have the same group of people and you just add to it.”

But keeping the same squad intact is only half the battle. At the start of training camp, Milwaukee still had key players recovering from injuries and tweaks to work out defensively as it aims to return to title contention. As the Bucks…