After The Timeout · NBA 2026-27 guide

Eastern Conference · tip-off October 20

Milwaukee Bucks

Our win estimate next to the market's, the last three seasons, who came and went, and the rotation we expect.

Our estimate

32 wins

Median of 20,000 simulated seasons. Middle 80%: 26 to 37 wins.

The market

27.8 wins

Where the Kalshi yes price for "wins or more" crosses 50%.

Last season

32-50

2025-26 · net rating -6.2 (25th in the NBA)

Our estimate is 4.6 wins above the market.

Treat the gap as a flag, not a verdict. In backtests on 2024-25 and 2025-26 (60 team-seasons) this kind of estimate missed a team's win total by 8.3 wins on average. Last season's wins pulled toward 41 missed by 9.0. Ratings built from games alone said 33 wins for this team.

Two ways to count wins

Our range against the market

The blue bar is the middle 80% of our simulated seasons. The orange line is the market's win total.

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 27.8 market wins in an 82-game season
Our median 32, middle 80%: 26 to 37 Market 27.8

Where we think they finish in the East

Top 6: 0.3% Play-in, 7th to 10th: 15% Outside the top 10: 85%
Market prices by strikeKalshi, captured Oct 19, 4:38 pm UTC
Wins or moreBidAskMidOur odds
1591¢ 98¢ 95¢ 100%
2077¢ 81¢ 79¢ 100%
2562¢ 64¢ 63¢ 96%
3039¢ 40¢ 40¢ 71%
3524¢ 26¢ 25¢ 26%
407¢ 11¢ 9¢ 4%
451¢ 9¢ 5¢ 0%
500¢ 6¢ n/a 0%
550¢ 6¢ n/a 0%
600¢ 6¢ n/a 0%
650¢ 6¢ n/a 0%

A strike with no bid is treated as unpriced. The market win total is a straight line between the two strikes that straddle 50%.

What the scoreboard said

The last three regular seasons

Ratings are points per 100 possessions. Possessions are estimated from box scores, so treat them as close, not exact. Ranks are out of 30.

2025-26 · 32-50 (21st in wins)

Points per game
110.629th
Allowed per game
116.820th
Offensive rating
111.223rd
Defensive rating
117.427th
Net rating
-6.225th

2024-25 · 48-34 (11th in wins)

Points per game
115.511th
Allowed per game
113.013th
Offensive rating
114.211th
Defensive rating
111.812th
Net rating
+2.411th

2023-24 · 49-33 (8th in wins)

Points per game
119.04th
Allowed per game
116.421st
Offensive rating
116.46th
Defensive rating
113.819th
Net rating
+2.611th

Our preseason ratings

Offense
-2.6929th
Defense
+0.9321st
Net, games only
-3.6225th
Roster value
-2.72

Offense, defense and net are points per game against an average team, fitted on every completed game before tip-off (defense: lower is better). Roster value is the on-court net per 48 minutes of the players on the roster list, weighted by minutes.

Who came and who left

Offseason moves

Built from the DraftKings roster list and 2025-26 box scores. Players who left had at least 500 regular-season minutes here last season.

In (9)

  • Jaime Jaquez Jr.from MIA
    28.3 min, 15.4 pts a game
  • Kel'el Warefrom MIA
    22.2 min, 11.1 pts a game
  • Caris LeVertfrom DET
    19.2 min, 7.4 pts a game
  • Tyler Herrofrom MIA
    31.2 min, 20.5 pts a game
  • Kasparas Jakucionisfrom MIA
    17.9 min, 6.2 pts a game
4 moredepth and rookies
  • Kam Jonesfrom IND
    16.6 min, 4.4 pts a game
  • Bogoljub MarkovicRookie / newNo NBA box score on file
  • Brayden BurriesRookie / newNo NBA box score on file
  • Nate AmentRookie / newNo NBA box score on file

Out (6)

  • Bobby Portisnow with MIA
    24.1 min, 13.7 pts a game
  • Giannis Antetokounmponow with MIA
    28.9 min, 27.6 pts a game
  • Pete Nancenot on a 2026-27 roster we can see
    15.6 min, 5.4 pts a game
  • Gary Harrisnot on a 2026-27 roster we can see
    13.8 min, 2.7 pts a game
  • Taurean Princenow with DET
    23.6 min, 9.2 pts a game
1 more
  • Cole Anthonynot on a 2026-27 roster we can see
    15.1 min, 6.7 pts a game

The rotation we expect

Top eight by projected minutes

Minutes come from our DFS minutes projection and are not scaled to a 240-minute game. Open a player for three seasons of per-game lines and shooting.

AJ Green G · age 27 · 32.5 projected min 2025-26: 78 g, 10.4 pts, 2.7 reb, 1.9 ast

2025-26 · MIL

78games
29.1min
10.4pts
2.7reb
FG42.4%262/618
3P41.9%232/554
FT85.5%53/62

1.9 assists a game

2024-25 · MIL

73games
22.8min
7.4pts
2.4reb
FG42.9%182/424
3P42.7%155/363
FT81.5%22/27

1.5 assists a game

2023-24 · MIL

54games
11.4min
4.7pts
1.2reb
FG42.3%83/196
3P40.8%69/169
FT89.5%17/19

0.6 assists a game

Ousmane Dieng F · age 23 · 32.4 projected min 2025-26: 57 g, 7.6 pts, 3.2 reb, 2.4 ast

2025-26 · MIL/OKC

57games
19.4min
7.6pts
3.2reb
FG42.2%168/398
3P34.1%63/185
FT71.1%32/45

2.4 assists a game

2024-25 · OKC

37games
11.0min
3.8pts
2.2reb
FG43.2%54/125
3P32.4%23/71
FT68.8%11/16

0.8 assists a game

2023-24 · OKC

33games
11.1min
4.0pts
1.5reb
FG42.2%49/116
3P30.0%21/70
FT87.5%14/16

1.1 assists a game

Kevin Porter Jr. G · age 26 · 31.9 projected min 2025-26: 38 g, 17.4 pts, 5.2 reb, 7.4 ast

2025-26 · MIL

38games
33.2min
17.4pts
5.2reb
FG46.5%239/514
3P32.2%46/143
FT87.8%137/156

7.4 assists a game

2024-25 · LAC/MIL

75games
19.8min
10.3pts
3.7reb
FG44.9%293/652
3P31.1%55/177
FT76.9%130/169

3.4 assists a game

2023-24

No regular-season games on file.

Ryan Rollins G · age 24 · 31.6 projected min 2025-26: 74 g, 17.3 pts, 4.6 reb, 5.6 ast

2025-26 · MIL

74games
32.1min
17.3pts
4.6reb
FG47.2%486/1030
3P40.6%184/453
FT79.6%125/157

5.6 assists a game

2024-25 · MIL

55games
14.9min
6.3pts
2.0reb
FG48.7%132/271
3P40.8%49/120
FT80.0%36/45

1.9 assists a game

2023-24 · MIL/WSH

13games
5.9min
3.4pts
1.0reb
FG51.9%14/27
3P75.0%3/4
FT76.5%13/17

1.1 assists a game

Tyler Herro New here G · age 26 · 31.2 projected min 2025-26: 33 g, 20.5 pts, 4.8 reb, 4.1 ast

2025-26 · MIA

33games
31.2min
20.5pts
4.8reb
FG48.0%247/515
3P37.8%84/222
FT91.7%99/108

4.1 assists a game

2024-25 · MIA

77games
35.4min
23.9pts
5.2reb
FG47.2%651/1378
3P37.5%251/670
FT87.8%287/327

5.5 assists a game

2023-24 · MIA

42games
33.5min
20.8pts
5.3reb
FG44.1%324/735
3P39.6%132/333
FT85.6%95/111

4.5 assists a game

Cormac Ryan G · age 27 · 29.2 projected min 2025-26: 11 g, 14.3 pts, 2.5 reb, 1.7 ast

2025-26 · MIL

11games
24.5min
14.3pts
2.5reb
FG52.0%53/102
3P45.8%27/59
FT92.3%24/26

1.7 assists a game

2024-25

No regular-season games on file.

2023-24

No regular-season games on file.

Jericho Sims C · age 28 · 29.0 projected min 2025-26: 66 g, 5.1 pts, 5.6 reb, 1.6 ast

2025-26 · MIL

66games
20.0min
5.1pts
5.6reb
FG78.4%145/185
3Pn/a0/0
FT62.0%44/71

1.6 assists a game

2024-25 · MIL/NY

51games
12.4min
1.9pts
3.9reb
FG63.4%45/71
3Pn/a0/0
FT61.5%8/13

0.6 assists a game

2023-24 · NY

45games
13.1min
2.0pts
3.3reb
FG69.1%38/55
3Pn/a0/0
FT66.7%16/24

0.6 assists a game

Jaime Jaquez Jr. New here F · age 25 · 27.8 projected min 2025-26: 75 g, 15.4 pts, 5.0 reb, 4.7 ast

2025-26 · MIA

75games
28.3min
15.4pts
5.0reb
FG50.7%464/915
3P31.7%58/183
FT76.9%166/216

4.7 assists a game

2024-25 · MIA

66games
20.8min
8.6pts
4.4reb
FG46.1%213/462
3P31.1%37/119
FT75.4%107/142

2.5 assists a game

2023-24 · MIA

75games
28.1min
11.9pts
3.8reb
FG48.9%341/697
3P32.2%65/202
FT81.1%142/175

2.6 assists a game

How to read this

Method and limits

How our estimate is built
  • Our estimate starts from the roster. Each player's on-court net points per 48 minutes (from his most recent full season, pulled toward zero when the sample is small) is averaged by minutes across the roster list, then turned into wins at about 2.9 wins per point of net.
  • That win total is then pushed through the real 2026-27 schedule 20,000 times, using a home win probability for every game, to get the range and the playoff and play-in odds.
  • Ratings built from games alone (6,153 games before October 20) are kept as a comparison. They fade old games over the offseason, which pulls every team toward average.
  • The market number is the wins where Kalshi's "wins or more" price crosses 50%, read off a straight line between strikes five wins apart.
What the estimate does not know
  • Possessions are an estimate from box totals, not tracked possessions.
  • The season simulation uses each game's win probability from the ratings and nothing else: no rating uncertainty, injuries, trades after the cutoff or in-season rating updates, so the 10th-90th percentile band is narrower than a real season's spread.
  • The 2026-27 schedule file lists 1200 games (80 per team on average) rather than 1230. Each team's missing games ([2] per team) are played against an average opponent at a neutral site with no rest terms.
  • Projection method: (d) roster values. In the walk-forward study its hold-out MAE was 8.3 wins (n = 60 team-seasons) against 9.0 for last season's wins regressed toward 41. Typical error is still about 8 wins per team, so treat every number as a wide estimate.
  • Roster values use each player's box-score plus-minus, which is not adjusted for teammates. Players with no box-score history count as average at 10 minutes a game.
  • Ties in the seeding are broken at random; head-to-head and division rules are not applied.
  • Every team has a usable market median.
  • Market median uses the midpoint of the yes bid and ask for each strike and a straight line between the two strikes (5 wins apart) that straddle 0.5; a strike with no bid is treated as unpriced.
  • Rosters are the DraftKings Best Ball player list for draft group 150564, kept only where the player is on his team's current ESPN roster (ESPN team rosters, 2026-10-19): released and departed players are out. Players DraftKings lists as Out are not in the engine's pool, so they have no projected minutes and are not in the top 8; each team's moves block names them.
  • Projected minutes are the engine's per-player estimates from box scores through 2026-04-12; they are not scaled to the team's 240 minutes and do not model new teammates.
  • Box scores start in 2021-22; a player with no box score on file is marked as a rookie or new, which can include veterans returning from abroad. Ages come from the ESPN player directory (2025-26 file) and are missing for players it does not list.
  • This team has 2 games the schedule file does not list yet; they are treated as games against an average opponent.

Data built Oct 19, 2026. Estimates are ours and can be wrong.