The Milwaukee Bucks are heading into a new era next season with the recent appointment of Mike Budenholzer as their head coach as well as a move to a new arena.

Despite making the playoffs for the second consecutive year, they once again suffered a first-round exit, losing in seven games to the undermanned Boston Celtics.

As a result, their campaign was seen as a disappointment as they failed to make significant progress.

They ended the regular season with a 44-38 record and fired Jason Kidd midway through the year as they hit a horrible slump that threatened to derail their playoff push.

But there is still real potential on the Bucks roster, led by superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.

They have enough talent to be challenging at the top end of the Eastern Conference and that's something Khris Middleton is expecting to see in the 2018-19 campaign.

The small forward hasn't been put off by their past failings and believes they'll make a real leap.

"I definitely believe we will be a top three team next season....we've shown we can do it," Middleton said in an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio.

The Bucks secured two more wins than the previous year but sneaked into the postseason with a seventh-placed finish, which isn't really seen as a success in Milwaukee.

They have higher expectations for themselves and believe that the arrival of Budenholzer will finally allow them to eventually become an elite team.

Middleton had some influence in the appointment of the former Atlanta Hawks coach as he and teammate Antetokounmpo had a meeting with him at the request of the front office before anything was formalised.

General manager Jon Horst wanted the franchise's star players to see which direction the team wants to go in and ensure that they were on board. They were reportedly impressed by Bud's vision and endorsed his hiring.

Key component

Middleton is coming off his best season in the league as he averaged 20.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.0 assists while playing in all 82 games.

The 26-year-old will be an important part of the team's core group next year along with the Greek Freak and Eric Bledsoe.

He's developed into a reliable scorer and a perfect secondary option behind Giannis.

The swingman certainly has high hopes for the Bucks next season but it'll be interesting to see if they can finally do their talking on the court and live up to their potential.

CLICK HERE to listen to Episode Two of the new GiveMeSport NBA podcast, featuring New York Times senior writer Marc Stein. Subscribe for all future episodes.