As the Milwaukee Bucks continue to pursue their championship aspirations, these three players are facing the most pressure.

The Milwaukee Bucks are walking into the 2019-20 season with a different kind of pressure. Sure, they had preseason expectations last year where they might be able to win 50-games and get a top-four seed under Mike Budenholzer. Even though they far exceeded everyone’s wildest dreams, that pressure wasn’t really there until the postseason.

This time around, they’ve been the talk of the Eastern Conference. They are expected to dominate the regular season once again and will be truly judged by what they accomplish in the playoffs. There are even whispers out there that they were a fluke last season.

As the team looks to prove last season was real, they have individuals who are also feeling the heat. These three players have the most to prove heading into the 2019-20 season in order to prove their critics wrong.

Wesley Matthews

Wesley Matthews returns to the state where he grew up, as he played high school ball at Madison Memorial and attended college at Marquette. However, it’s not for those reasons that he faces pressure this season. It’s because he’s being asked to replace the new $80 million man in Malcolm Brogdon.

Brogdon was terrific last season and was a big reason why the Bucks were so dominant. He’s also one of the few players who played well against the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals despite just returning from an injury. Although Matthews isn’t nearly at the same level as Brogdon at this point in their careers, he’ll still be expected to replace some of Brogdon’s production.

It’s unrealistic for us to expect Matthews to meet or exceed Brogdon’s production last year. For starters, Matthews is on the downside of his career and isn’t the same type of player he once was. Matthews can definitely bring some added three-point shooting given his propensity to launch from the outside. However, anything more than average defense and an average all-around game might be asking too much from the veteran.

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis Antetokounmpo has improved every single season in his NBA career and that progression culminated with an MVP last season. However, at some point, he’ll hit a plateau and stop improving. Most analysts expect him to take another step forward this season, but what if it doesn’t happen?

Antetokounmpo is expected to add a jump shot or even a go-to move to his repertoire this year. That addition to his game is also expected to allow him to carry the Bucks to the NBA Finals and possibly even a championship. That’s a lot to ask for from one guy who, in all reality, is on a team without a second star. Antetokounmpo is certainly equipped to handle the pressure, but how much more can this franchise ask of him?

Eric Bledsoe

When Eric Bledsoe signed a contract extension with the Bucks in March, many saw it as a great deal for Milwaukee given Bledsoe’s breakout season. The contract is now looked at as a big question mark given Bledsoe’s poor play in the postseason for the second straight year. The Raptors zeroed in on Bledsoe and basically ignored him on the perimeter in their effort to shut down Antetokounmpo.

With the stage looking too bright for Bledsoe, he’ll have to wait the entire regular season to prove his doubters wrong. No matter what he does from October to April, there will always be questions about what his performance in the playoffs will look like. That’s a long time to carry a burden he can do nothing about.