What’s Next For These NBA Teams?

Although the Eastern Conference delivered a largely expected matchup between the top two seeds in the conference finals, the Western Conference’s top two seeds, Phoenix and Memphis, were both eliminated in round two.

The defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks also went home in round two, as did the Philadelphia 76ers, who made the biggest in-season trade by acquiring James Harden before the trade deadline.

What does that all mean? For starters, all four teams that went out in round two on some level didn’t meet their lofty expectations and will undoubtedly face interesting offseason questions. Here’s a look at what could be next for each of those teams.

Phoenix Suns: The Suns had more trouble than expected with their round one matchup against New Orleans,  but that was mostly chalked up to the fact that they played parts of that series without star Devin Booker. Phoenix looked to be on track in the second round when the Suns jumped out to a 2-0 series lead on Dallas. Things quickly unraveled, though, culminating with an embarrassing game seven loss in which the Suns weren’t competitive at all.

There’s certainly more than enough blame for that debacle to go around. But, fair or not, much of it has landed on the shoulders of DeAndre Ayton.

Ayton entered the season noticeably not among the elite players from his draft class who didn’t receive a contract extension – frustrating for him considering his important role in Phoenix’s run to the Finals last season.

Ayton was benched early in the game seven loss and after the season ended, reports emerged that he might not be exactly beloved by head coach Monty Williams. Ayton is young and talented, though, and he’ll have no shortage of suitors in free agency, including Detroit, Portland, and San Antonio. Those teams all have the cap space to make him a major offer. He’s a restricted free agent, though, so Phoenix would have to decide whether or not to match.

If the Suns don’t match, how they replace his presence in the lineup immediately becomes their most important offseason question. He’s an effective interior scorer, defends and rebounds well, and can block shots. His ability to run to the rim and finish lobs from Chris Paul is particularly important to the Phoenix offense.

The Suns were clearly frustrated with his performance, but they also don’t really have a viable alternative to replace him and maintain their status as a title contender should he leave.

Memphis Grizzlies: Of all of the teams in this group, Memphis likely has the least stressful offseason in store. The Grizzlies were expected to make the playoffs this season, but overachieved by grabbing the No. 2 seed. Star Ja Morant ascended into the MVP conversation in just his third season, Desmond Bane emerged as a potential future All-Star, and the Grizzlies still have one of the youngest rosters in the league.

Memphis does need to see if it can get more consistency out of Jaren Jackson Jr. Jackson is already among the best defensive players in the NBA, but he still struggles with foul trouble. Jackson’s offense is also inconsistent. With Bane’s emergence, the team is less reliant on Jackson as their secondary scorer alongside Morant, but if he can become a consistently reliable threat on offense, Memphis becomes even more dangerous.

The Grizzlies will have to decided what to do with free agent Kyle Anderson. Anderson is an important reserve and a steadying presence on the team. He’s also a good secondary playmaker alongside Morant or when he’s not on the court. But he’ll also have plenty of potential suitors in free agency, so if they lose him, it will be vital to find a capable replacement.

Still, the youth of the Grizzlies and their rapid upward trajectory suggests they should be a good candidate to make another leap forward next season.

Milwaukee Bucks: The Bucks shouldn’t feel too discouraged about their second round loss to Boston. They stretched the Celtics to seven games despite playing without All-Star Khris Middleton. But Middleton’s absence also exposed a major problem for the Bucks – their offense tends to be too predictable.

Outside of stars Giannis Antetokounmpo, Middleton, and Jrue Holiday, Milwaukee doesn’t have any other players on the roster capable of creating their own shots or consistently setting up shots for others. They lack depth at several positions and don’t have a lot of avenues to improve as they invested mega contracts in their three stars and gave up significant draft capital in order to acquire Holiday before last season.

If the Bucks can find another perimeter shooter or two and upgrade the backup point guard spot behind Holiday, and enter next year’s playoffs with everyone healthy, they should once again be a title contender.

Philadelphia 76ers: For a brief moment, the Sixers looked like Finals favorites immediately after acquiring Harden. However, Harden’s play quickly tailed off in the regular season and his shooting struggles continued in the playoffs, leading to questions as to whether or not he’s still the MVP-caliber scorer he was just a few seasons ago in Houston.

Harden is also a free agent after the season, and although he said he was excited to be in Philadelphia after the trade, it is not a guarantee that he’ll return. If he does re-sign, the Sixers need him to have a dedicated offseason and come into next season in great condition.

The team’s coach, Doc Rivers, also faced criticism this season for his long string of playoff disappointments. The Sixers have said that Rivers will be their coach again next season, but that hasn’t stopped the Los Angeles Lakers from pursuing him.

One positive from the season is that Philadelphia has a promising emerging young star in Tyrese Maxey,  who picked up the slack for Harden in the postseason. The team’s core of Harden, Maxey, Joel Embiid, and Tobias Harris is likely coming back again next season, so if the Sixers add some more shooting to their bench and a reliable backup center behind Embiid, expect them to make another run at the No. 1 seed in the East.