Well, I don't need to decide on a 2nd round matchup yet.
But now I'll likely take MIL, especially if Brogdon returns and Smart is out. I had already planned to go bold with BOS over #1 MIL. But Smart is really a key player for them. And BOS never pulled things together.
As for PHX, I'm wondering what their backcourt will look like next year. I assume they'll try to add a starting PG somehow. Imagine they'd love to draft Ja Morant.
Looks like Suns have a crowded backcourt.
Tyler Johnson is going to opt-in for $19M
Okobo & Melton are signed for next year at Jimmer money.
2nd round PG's don't usually amount to much. And both shot 39% FG and 30% on 3's. One or both might really be just an SG who can't shoot. But they are young and have guaranteed contracts.
Dev Book is the starting SG.
So that's 4 G's.
Troy Daniels should have inside track ahead of Jimmer, though could cost more. But younger and knows the team/system.
So if they keep Daniels, that's 5 G's, with Jimmer hoping to be 6th. There's also Craw, who also would compete with JimJam for vet bench scorer who doesn't defend. Though you'd think Craw would want to be on a playoff team. Not even sure why he was in PHX.
And I suspect PHX will try to draft or trade for a starting caliber PG. Could always toss a Melton or Okobo into such a deal, but the backcourt numbers start adding up. Okobo, Melton, Daniels make it hard to give a roster space to Jimmer. Would they really let Daniels and Craw leave to keep JimJam. Crowded backcourt without many proven options -- outside Booker.
If I were running PHX, Book, Ayton and at least one of Bridges/Uber would be my young core. Everybody else would be expendable. And I'd be working hard to figure out ways to get a young starting PG. I'd want to re-sign Uber so you then could trade Bridges or Uber if needed.
Otherwise, I'd assume Bender is out. Who knows if they sign Uber. They might let him go and try to add a shooting F. Add a wing who can can 3's and that would weigh against Jimmer. Keeping Uber helps Jimmer's case. Btw, I saw something last week that said Uber led the league in deflections (not sure where to find such a stat).
In 40 PHX games, Ube: 17 Pts, 5 Boards, 1.6 Ass, 1.4 Steals, 1 .0 blocks. 45 / 33 / 76 shooting splits. 4 FTA's.
Half a season on a crap team. But he fit in and asserted himself.
Probably depends what Uber can command.
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