Suns get ready for their Super Bowl, their biggest game of the year, their last stand.

To everybody else:  It’s the GMAC Bowl, the 1st fight on the undercard for a big Vegas bout, a Yankees-Red Sox game in May.   So, is tomorrow night’s must-win game against the Dallas Mavericks a must-see for Suns fans?  And which would Suns fans rather see:

A first round showdown with the Lakers as an 8 seed or a first round pick somewhere in the top 14?  Before you decide, consider this:

•     Only 3 eight seeds have ever advanced in the NBA playoffs, and only one (the New York Knicks during the strike-shortened season of 1999) has advanced past the 2nd Round.  The 1994 Denver Nuggets (beat Seattle that year), and the 2007 Golden State Warriors (beat Dallas) are the other two.

•    The Suns do not own the their draft choice in 2010- that pick belongs to the Oklahoma City Thunder, after the Suns traded Kurt Thomas to then Seattle in 2007.  The pick is unprotected.
In short, the Suns window of opportunity to draft in the lottery over the next two years is now and only now.  Although that pick is probably going to be around 14, the Suns could parlay it into a top 10 or even top 5 selection if they decide to trade Amare Stoudemire this off-season.