On early Saturday morning, Kawhi Leonard went to the Los Angeles Clippers. It was a stunning move that included Paul George going to the Clippers in a mega-trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Leonard leaving the Eastern Conference means that the Toronto Raptors fell from the top of their perch in the East with a blink of an eye. The Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers are taking reign of that conference then it’s everyone else. An argument can be made that the Bucks are the better team than the Sixers despite Philly making some upgrades to their roster. Bucks have the better star player, a deeper bench and one of the best team chemistries in the league.

NBA analysts will debate for the rest of the summer and early Fall about who is the better team – Philadelphia or Milwaukee. It’s a fair debate, but Milwaukee comes out slightly ahead as these teams are constructed on July 8th. For starters, Giannis Antetokounmpo figured out Al Horford in the final three games of the second round of the playoffs. People seem to have short-term memory loss when it comes to Giannis dominating in Game 3 and 4 against Horford on his home court. Antetokounmpo figured out how to beat Horford and the rest was history. Even though he is a welcomed addition to the Sixers, he isn’t the one thing to put Philadelphia over the top against Milwaukee.

Yes, the loss of Malcolm Brogdon is significant. But so is the loss of Jimmy Butler for Philadelphia. It is hard to argue that Brogdon is a bigger loss than Butler. While he contributed to the Bucks, Brogdon was rarely the top player on the court for Milwaukee. Butler had those moments for Philadelphia time and time again. He was the guy that the Sixers looked towards when they needed a big shot at the end of the shot clock or the final minute. Who becomes that guy for Philadelphia now that Jimmy is gone? Ben Simmons? A guy who cannot shoot. Tobias Harris isn’t that guy nor is Joel Embiid.

Bucks also have something that Philadelphia doesn’t have at all… Team chemistry. Do we know how Embiid and Simmons work together as teammates? Why did Butler show no indication to comeback? Khris Middleton came back willingly to the Bucks because he and Giannis work so well together. If the team didn’t have these connections, none of these guys would be back on the roster. Brook Lopez would have gone somewhere else. Robin Lopez wouldn’t have joined his brother. Same goes for George Hill. All those guys came back and for good reason. They want to win a championship.

Charlie.