“Milwaukee? Really?!” That was the thought that came to mind when I first saw the headline that Eric Bledsoe was traded to the Bucks for Greg Monroe and a future first round pick. When the Suns first put Eric Bledsoe on the trading block, the Bucks weren’t a team that came to mind. The Bucks have a Point Guard in Malcolm Brogdon who needs to continue getting reps to improve his game and it confuses me that they would want to bring in another point guard who commands the ball thus taking it out of the hands of Brogdon.

Bledsoe is 6’1” making him too small to start at Shooting Guard and even when the Suns and Clippers would try rotating him to the SG spot, he would be held in the corner. Bigger defenders would eat him up and not allow him to get consistent shots off. Bledsoe has tremendous quickness and can drive the lane effectively. Bledsoe’s a career 44.5 percent shooter and had improved his assist numbers over the last few years. Bledsoe averages 1.4 steals per game for his career showing his commitment to defense. The problem with Bledsoe (besides him being an exclusive Point Guard) is that he thinks he has a shooters touch in which even when missing he’ll keep shooting. The Bucks already use Khris Middleton as the top of the key bailout option. His shot-happy persona could disrupt the Bucks chemistry on offense.

Is trading for Bledsoe worth taking experience out of the hands of your up and coming Point Guard in Brogdon? Will Bledsoe’s arrival send Brogdon to the bench eventually? Will the fact that Giannis Antetokounmpo brings up the ball a lot take shots away from Khris Middleton? YES! Fantasy owners of Bucks players better hope that Bledsoe will come off the bench. That’s the best spot for him so he can lead the Bucks second unit in scoring. Bledsoe has a No. 2 option is a much better Bledsoe. Regardless whether or not Bledsoe starts, Brogdon’s time with the ball, minutes, shots and assists will likely decrease. Khris Middleton owners will be impacted as well as there will be less shots for him and a constant game by game competition to see who will be Antetokounmpo’s right hand man on a given night. Can all of this disrupt chemistry? Absolutely! If Milwaukee keeps him mainly with the second unit, it can give the Bucks another dimension on offense. Tony Snell’s production and playing time will take a big hit and he’ll likely be brought in to mainly fire three-pointers. He plays decent perimeter defense and that could lengthen his leash a bit, but the back and mid-court is crowded for the Bucks.

Should Antetokounmpo’s production be impacted? He brings up the ball a lot and will drive to the rim without even passing. He’s very hard to keep out of the lane. When Antetokounmpo is off the ball and Bledsoe is in one of his shooting sprees, it could take a couple of shots and the ball out of Antetokounmpo’s hands. Outside of that minor concern, Antetokounmpo for the most part is safe. There are clearly positives and negatives regarding the Bucks acquiring Bledsoe. While I do worry about Bledsoe’s attitude and think that the Suns wanting to groom Devin Booker to be the new face of the team bothered him, new beginnings are new beginnings and leaving the West could steer his career in a different direction. Health is a concern for Bledsoe as he missed 16 games last season and over half of the season the year before. The Bucks will likely start out giving Bledsoe around 25-27 minutes per game until he’s fully acclimated in the offense.

Once Bledsoe catches up and learns everything and gets enough experience with his new teammates, the secondary options on offense become a hot-hand approach. Bledsoe should still be able to score 15 points per game in this offense if brought in off the bench. With the departure of Monroe, John Henson and Thon Maker will have less competition for playing time as both should be playing over 20 minutes per game consistently. Another reason I didn’t understand this trade from the Bucks side is that they need more  big man depth and Tyson Chandler was made available and thought he’d be a perfect fit on this Bucks team and don’t understand how the Bucks weren’t able to pry him away from the Suns. Antetokounmpo covers a lot of ground, but needs relief especially inside.

The Suns finally get rid of the disgruntled Bledsoe and get an asset back in the future first rounder and the Suns are already looking to shop Monroe as they have a lot of big men. They would prefer to trade him rather than buying him out because it’s going to cost the Suns about $17.5 Million to do so. Monroe is a UFO when it comes to fantasy and reality in the NBA. It’s hard to figure out where to place him on the court. He’s been inconsistent his entire career and while the stats are there, he was not a game-impacting player and hasn’t found his fit. Phoenix doesn’t want any part of him. All Suns player owners can exhale. An acquisition of another scoring weapon would impact people who own Devin Booker, T.J. Warren and even those who took a flier on Josh Jackson. Everyone can exhale, for now!

With the departure of Bledsoe, Mike James has emerged as a good fantasy bench option and continues to secure more playing time in the Suns rotation. Tyler Ullis minutes are safe and should play 20 minutes per game for the duration of the season, but until an injury occurs in the backcourt, he can be kept on fantasy waiver wires. If the Suns were to end up using Monroe, it could leave Dragan Bender on the outside looking in and he needs more reps to improve his game. Marquese Chriss would have serious competition up-front as well. All Suns options are currently safe from impact. The Monroe situation could change if the Suns can’t find a suitor.

Devin Booker, Mike James, John Henson and TJ Warren benefit from this trade while Malcolm Brogdon, Tony Snell and Khris Middleton will be losing out on possession of the ball and possibly shots. It’ll take time for Bledsoe to learn how to run with this team, but his stats should remain consistent once he’s fully up and running.