Our 2019 NBA offseason series has come to the fourth part, the Central Division. Compared with the previous three – the Pacific Division, the Atlantic Division and the Southwest Division – this one is not that exciting because no team will be able to threaten the Milwaukee Bucks.

Bucks are getting neither better nor worse

Milwaukee Bucks biggest gains: Keeping Khris Middleton with a five-year, 178-million-U.S.-dollar contract extension; keeping Brook Lopez with a four-year, 52-million-U.S.-dollar contract; keeping George Hill with a three-year, 29-million-U.S.-dollar deal; signing Kyle Korver with a one-year, 2.6-million-U.S.-dollar contract

Milwaukee Bucks biggest losses: Sending Malcolm Brogdon away in trade; letting Nikolas Mirotic depart for Europe

Losing Brogdon was bad news for Milwaukee but not bad enough to remove the team from championship chasers in the new season. After all, Milwaukee were leading in the regular season before Brogdon returned from injury. Besides, the team sent him to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for one first-round pick and two second-rounders, which is better than watching him leave for free.

Middleton and Lopez are two important members of the Bucks as the former just played his first All-Star Game last season and the latter was the key to the team's big transformation thanks to his 3-pointers, rim protection and rebounding. Since the Bucks did not keep Brogdon, they had space to offer a good contract to Hill, who made great contributions in some playoff games last season.

Adding Korver is an improvement to any team, especially in today's NBA. We are talking about an off-ball guard who has buried 2,351 3-pointers (the fourth-most in NBA history) at a rate of 42.9 percent (the second-highest) in his 16-season career. The 38-year-old can help Giannis Antetokounmpo by simply standing behind the 3-point line, not to mention that he played his first All-Star Game in 2015 under coach Mike Budenholzer at the Atlanta Hawks.

Of course, none of the above can move Milwaukee closer to the Finals unless Antetokounmpo begins to punish the opponent's defense for leaving him open outside the paint. The new NBA MVP holds the key to bringing his team to the Finals, or even the championship.

Pacers fail to make up for their losses

Indiana Pacers biggest gains: Introducing Malcolm Brogdon with a four-year, 85-million-U.S.-dollar contract via sign-and-trade; landing Jeremy Lamb with a three-year, 31-million-U.S.-dollar deal

Indiana Pacers biggest losses: Losing free agent Bojan Bogdanovic to the Utah Jazz; losing free agent Thaddeus Young to the Chicago Bulls; Darren Collison retiring; Tyreke Evans being dismissed for violating anti-drug policy; losing free agent Cory Joseph to the Sacramento Kings

It took the Pacers a four-year, 85-million-U.S.-dollar deal to acquire Brogdon, which was a little expensive but also understandable. Having watched three of their guards leave, the team must replenish their back-court roster. Meanwhile, Victor Oladipo suffering terrible injuries, leaving Pacers offense struggling, has also made the team desperate for a good guard – Brogdon was probably their best choice.

Landing Brogdon, Lamb plus Oladipo – if he stays healthy – will give Indiana the best back court unit they have had in years. However, losing Bogdanovic and Young basically destroyed the team's wing defense. One of the reasons they could be a hard nut to crack in the Eastern Conference was that they could make every opponent uncomfortable with their defense, which will cease to be true in the new season.

Pistons will struggle for playoffs

Detroit Pistons biggest gains: Signing Derrick Rose with a two-year, 16-million-U.S.-dollar contract; introducing Tony Snell in trade

Detroit Pistons biggest loss: Losing free agent Wayne Ellington to the New York Knicks

The Pistons made the playoffs last season mostly thanks to the incredible performance of Blake Griffin, who had one of the best seasons in his career. Nonetheless, the team did not have a second player who could share the burden with Griffin – Andre Drummond failed and so did Reggie Jackson.

That seems to continue in the next season. Getting Rose is a good deal – the former 2011 MVP is a way better player than his NBA 2K rating (80) shows, but that's not enough. Building your franchise around two stars has become the new trend in today's league and Griffin has tried, and failed.

"I did a few calls, a few texts, a few reach-outs. I think I was 0-3 this year," said Griffin to Barstool Sports' podcast Pardon My Take.

Neither the Chicago Bulls nor the Cleveland Cavaliers will be able to cause a stir in the new season despite what they did in the offseason. The Bulls let Robin Lopez go, but they landed Thaddeus Young with a three-year, 41-million-U.S.-dollar contract, finally showing a sign that they are taking defense seriously. With Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen, Otto Porter and Wendell Carter Jr., the team have some good options in offense but before they still need to secure at least an All-Star player for Markkanen.

The Cavaliers don’t share that good prospect. The only move they had in the offseason was to wave 33-year-old J.R. Smith. Though the team only won 19 games, that did not keep them from looking at total taxable salaries of over 130 million U.S. dollars on their payroll. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers selected Darius Garland with the No. 5 pick in the draft. The 19-year-old young man only played five games in college this year because of a meniscus injury, not to mention that the team already have a young point guard, second-year Collin Sexton.

Generally speaking, it's still unclear when the Cavaliers will be able to step out of the shadow left by LeBron James.