We put David Thorpe’s special basketball brain to work assessing the upcoming NBA season for all 30 teams. With help from machine learning experts at Kensho, and the good people at Axios, there’s also a sophisticated, interactive projection of every NBA player. Here are our Eastern Conference team-by-team previews, in order of predicted finish.

East #1: MILWAUKEE BUCKS
Projected record: 57-25

BY DAVID THORPE

TrueHoop subscribers know that I believe the Bucks’ fortunes come down to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s willingness to take and make enough 3-pointers. There’s a problem with how he takes the shot--and he can fix it with fearless repetition, which he should get out of the way in the regular season--because they’ll need his shooting in the playoffs. The Bucks have enough defensive power and offensive weapons to still be a top two seed even if Giannis misses 70 percent of the time. 

No matter how confident Khris Middleton has grown from his Team USA experience, Giannis needs the game’s ultima…