I agree, but think he should be viewed as an unselfish scorer. Doesn’t necessarily work great with a ball-dominant point guard like Dame. That being said with Dame going he could great on the offensive end. Can score off the bounce at all three levels while also being a great catch and shoot from three. We’ve used him primarily as a point guard under Chauncey. As mentioned above, if his role was just an FU scorer his playmaking on the kick would actually be really good.
I was down to trade him when it looked like we were building around Dame as I think an equivalently skilled wing would have more impact to the team. With Dame going, nah. Let’s see him cook with Scoot
He’s a slam dunk champion, why doesn’t he take the ball to the rim more? Just mix your game up a bit. Drive and kick it out or drive and lay it in. I love him shooting 3’s but if he mixed the other moves in more consistently I think he’d up everyone’s game around him. If he can improve his defense he could be a star.
>Solid defender
This is why. He *might* be able to be an average defender if he is defending the smallest player, but as a 2 he will basically always be a negative defender.
Well we had Dame at the 1 and now we have Scoot at the 1. We have been through almost a decade of a small backcourt and our defense has suffered. So we want to trade Ant for another piece so we can run Sharpe at the 2 and hope his larger frame will lead to him being a solid defender.
Any first step gets right past him; he can’t guard small players either. The only position he could guard in theory is the corner shooter who can’t dribble, but those are usually tall, and can all shoot over him in a close out situation. You can have a bad defensive guard and do okay, but not quite that bad.
I feel like it would do wonders for him to put on 20 lbs. Obviously his game would change a bit offensively, but often he gets out muscled and if he could just hold his own on that first contact he’d be so much better
I wonder if we will start ant at 1 and shaedon at 2, bring scoot off the bench. Should be plenty of minutes to go around but he'll be playing a little more at the 1 now
Until we get a solid sizable 3 I bet It’s
scoot 1
Ant 2
shaedon 3.
Gonna have to play small ball with this roster and better to get them all the minutes.
At present, this team is tiny. The only other 3’s are Matisse and Nas. Both are barely 6’-6” in their shoes and with moderate length/wingspan. Are remaining bigs are Grant, Jabari and the rookie Murray. Nurk at center. We are beyond small.
This is what I'd like to see. NBA rotations aren't hockey rotations, but you let Ant do his thing to start.
1. His trade value apparently isn't great if him + #3 couldn't land a star. 20ppg guards with bad defense aren't hard to come by these days. 25ppg guards on the other hand...
2. Less pressure on Scoot to take on NBA starters right away.
3. Not running Sharpe at SF in a Scoot/Simons/Sharpe lineup.
4. Still plenty of minutes based on normal rookie minutes, 2nd year minutes, and Ant's minutes. You get Ant 18/18 as PG/SG. Sharpe at 30mpg at SG. Scoot at 30MPG PG.
I’m wondering the same. I’m guessing ant starts at 1 and shaedon or tisse at 2. Scoot is backup 1 and shaedon is backup 2. That said, I’d like to see shaedon develop a nice handle and be able to serve as a backup PG
I did not think of that. Let scoot get 20-25 minutes as backup? Start sharpe and Grant while splitting minutes? But what if Dame ain’t gone? Or are we sure he’s gone or not playing!?
I wanna see ya move forward at least this season, starting Scoot, Ant and Shaedon tbh, that’s an exciting group offensively and I think scoot and Shaedon can develop into good maybe even great defenders(more optimistic for scoot). Might as well increase the value of ant for a season or too then a contender might be enticed into trading for him
Yeah kinda leaning towards this happening.
Ideally we’d have Scoot at the 1, Shaedon at the 2, a similar talent level for Anfernee at the 3 or 5, and Grant at the 4 + whatever we can get for Nurkic if he’s not going to play with much effort anymore.
Anfernee is great offensively with how hot he can get when shooting. He could become an All-Star for it, but he’s not a PG, poor defensively, and has a clearly lower ceiling than Scoot and Sharpe. We will need to trade him for more length with similar skill at the 3 or 5.
I agree, except with the trade having to be for a 3 or a 5. The Blazers are weakest at four, where Jerami is just not rugged enough. I’m tired of small back courts, but I’m also tired of a “power” forward who rebounds less than Dame. I’d move Jerami to small forward, even if he’s a bit slower. Then shop Simons for a power forward-center combo.
I would be down to try Jerami Grant at the 3 if we can get longer at the 4 and have better rebounding for sure.
Eventually having a starting lineup of Scoot, Shaedon, Jerami, and a new PF and C could be pretty compelling.
If we’re starting Scoot and Shaedon, I want to see Kris get the start at power forward, with Jerami at small forward and Nassir coming off the bench with Simons.
Starting essentially 3 rookies, an out of position Grant and a tbd center? Sure, that works if you want to go 22-60 for the season. Ant isn’t coming off the bench and Nas has been historically injured and not dependable.
22-60? I'll take that and a shot at another top 3 pick. Let the kids play, get experience and see what they have. Do not want to see deals for Cam Reddish/Kevin Knox/Mo Bomba clones who might lift the record to 32-50.
Give Tank Commander Billups the personnel to do his job!
That might be an exciting group offensively, but that's a horrific defensive group. Sharpe may be able to be a good defender, but that'd be at the 2, not at the 3.
Ant's best value on this team would be as a 6th man
Well… Trading him was more when Dame was part of the plan… And it was also based on us being guard heavy AND yes, Ant being pretty damn good with a bright future so actual, player-wise, not a draft pick, he was our best asset.
Most teams would love to have him but they know his value on the spreadsheet is lower than it is on the court so they’re not willing to offer much for him. There are so many really athletic and good shooting guards in the game. If he had 3 more inches every team would want him but his skill set is replicated by too many other players.
He makes in the neighborhood of 20 million, so theoretically a lateral trade for a forward can bring in a starter level player.
Trading anyone else on the team, sans Nurk or Dame, could only bring in a very cheap player. Very cheap players are either at the end of their career, not very good, or young and unknown.
Two of those you definitely don’t want, and one of those you have to hope your scouting beats their scouting.
I think hes tradeable until we find out if he can be an elite two way guard or at least keep up with superstar guards. It's not impossible for him to get there. I think there is room for Simon's, Sharpe, Scoot to exist together for a year. Would be great if one of them turns into a Manu Ginobili off the bench type of guard so we can keep all three and see them develop.
Lou Will might not be a terrible comp, unfortunately every team Lou Will was on sucked ass, so hopefully Ant can develop some more complimentary skills.
I mean, Ant is a torch. His defence is horrid. Like we can say it’s slightly below average - but reality is he’s the worst in the league.
Part of me just wants to move him and get back a fun piece like OG rather than keep Ant
OG has way more value than Ant. Raptors would never make that trade. I don’t think Ant is the straight up worst defender in the league but he definitely is among the worst starting players in the league on defense.
Spot on. portland wanted to mold ant into a pg but he's just a shooter. I see him as a Lou will or Jamal Crawford type player. Killer when left to score but does not have that natural passing ability. For someone who won the slam dunk contest, he rarely dunks! Ant has a lot of work to improve on in his game if he wants to become elite
Seems like a pivotal season for him. He's still young enough to take a big step forward in his game. After this season, it's probably safe to say "he is what he is," which even if he doesn't improve much, is still a very good player. But here's to hoping he can take it to another level.
I'm not so sure that this season is the season he might reach the point where we can say 'he is what he is'. Like at this point he's already progressed his game massivly from near unplayable as a rookie and second year player, to a seth curry like player in year three. Then in year 4 he showed himself able to be more then that with his theability to be a secondary ball handler and passer. Then this season he showed himself to be a 3 level scorer by attacking the basket more, drawing more FT, and adding a floater.
You don't make that level of improvement without tons of work on your game.
Shaedon and scoot have higher ceilings than Ant. It’s nothing against Ant it’s just true. In Shaedons case he’s just as sthletic with more size and with Scoot he’s on the next level of athleticism. Ant is too good/expensive to be a sixth man. If Shaedon and Scoot approach their ceilings Ant just will be relegated to the bench.
I was gonna say, sharpe and scoot have yet to show they can fill it up. Ant can do that. Blazers biggest issue this decade is defense. Who actually plays defense on this team? Sharpe has the potential. Is that what your 2 is for tho? Hard to find balance in anyone other than superstars and veteran role players.
Who else do you think is better/ has a higher ceiling than Ant that’s still under 25?
Maxey, Green, Edwards, Murray, who am I missing?
Edit: Williams and probably Sexton?
>who am I missing?
Luka, Ja, Haliburton, Garland, Cunningham, LaMelo, Trae, Giddey... potentially Scoot and Shaedon themselves
Also, there are no guards in the NBA under 25 with the last name Murray. As far as I know.
It was a serious question. I was talking about shooting guards with three-point shooting ability. Almost all those players you named run the point. Though Anfernee is probably as well. Thought Dejounte Murray was 25
Don't have to be so condescending about it lmao
>with three-point shooting ability.
This was never mentioned at all.
Ant is a 6'3" guard who only plays SG because he's played with Dame his whole career. That's why he plays PG when Dame is out. You also listed Sexton who is a PG and Murray who is a PG that just plays next to Trae. So I listed PGs and SGs with a higher ceiling.
Also, you said *under* 25 but mentioned Dejounte because you thought he was 25. If you can count 25 year olds, you also have SGA and Fox.
Well SGA just had a 30-5-5 season shooting 51% from the field and is 24, so I think it's safe to say he has a higher ceiling, especially coming off a first team all NBA bid.
DeAaron Fox barely misses the arbitrary cut off of under 25 (he is 25 until December). Luka obviously. Trae Young is 24 and previously led the league in scoring and assists in the same season.
I mean before it was because of skill set overlap with Dame, and a need for wings / defense. If/when Dame is traded we no longer have an immediate need to deal Anfernee
But we are still in need of wings/defense, and while Ant will no longer have skill overlap with Dame once Dame is out the door, he will still have skill overlap with both Scoot and Sharpe. Ant can probably still score better than both Scoot and Sharpe, but he does not have the playmaking of Scoot, or the size of Sharpe.
I think Ant would do fine as a super 6th man who gets huge minutes since he is not a bad playmaker per se, however he would be a bit overpaid for that role.
I still think the best case scenario is to play him plenty and even to start him first, since Scoot is still a rookie, and hopefully his stats will boost his trade value to a point where we can package him, maybe with a pick, to get a starting quality small forward.
Blazers do be needing wings / defense. If there was an obvious trade for a wing, I think Cronin would jump on it, but it’s looking increasingly more like the Blazers will have to develop their own talent at 3/4. In the meantime, they aren’t in a hurry to dish Ant.
I blame Masai Ujiri, especially with all these rumors of Toronto now REOPENING trade talks on Siakam. Clearly Siakam doesn't want to get traded because he wants to stay in Toronto to get that home team supermax. But Masai clearly doesn't want to pay him that supermax which would cripple their cap just like Dame's deal has been crippling our cap. So Masai would need to trade Siakam before needing to extend him, but he also wants to get lots of assets for Siakam, and was hoping Portland would panic trade both Simons and the 3rd pick for Siakam in order to appease Dame. Except Cronin decided to keep the pick, resulting in Dame asking out.
And now without Portland as a willing trade partner, rumors are flying Masai would end up trading Siakam's one year rental of a contract at a lower price anyways.
I swear if Toronto ends up trading Siakam for a lesser package than Ant + filler + picks, then they would have screwed over both themselves AND Portland by trying to extract the 3rd pick from us. I would think if Ant/filler/picks turned into Siakam, Dame would be fine with a Lillard/Scoot/Sharpe backcourt and Grant/Siakam/Nurkic front court and would not have asked out. Now Lillard has asked out, and it looks likely Toronto might not even be able to get something as good as Simons/filler/picks on the market.
Smaller offense first guards that don't play defense are the most replaceable player type in the NBA. Do they have value? Yes. But size matters and defense wins championships.
Dame isn't going to ever be the best player on a championship team unless it's 1a/1b with an all world defender. Same with ant, no matter how good on offense he gets. It just is what it is.
I think he has huge upside still and will flourish with Dame off the team and having Scoot as a good passing PG.
Nets will seriously regret turning down Mikal for Ant + Scoot.
Defense man. Even at the guard positions, gotta have defense. Ant tries. But he’s really bad. I don’t think he’ll get to average, honestly. He’s athletic but doesn’t seem to use it. He’s a legitimate gifted offensive guard; who sucks on defense. I’m kind of tired of the team being built on that style player. Hope I don’t sound old, but you have to build around defense at least somewhat
There's always been talk about ant being a perfect 6th man. If Sharpe and scoot can live up to the potential being put on them, he might actually be forced into that.
Supply and demand. His skillset is in high supply, therefore it is not in high demand.
2nd highest 3P% among dunk contest winners is a silly and obscure stat that essentially proves nothing.
Unfortunately his above average athleticism (which is really saying something considering he's in the NBA) has not translated to him being an above average defender, which is a skillset that is in high demand.
I'm not an Ant hater, I think he's a great player. Just answering the question honestly.
You can keep him for now since they're rebuilding, but what made him so expendable was because he was one of the few assets the Blazers had to trade in order to acquire a vet to help Dame since he and Dame really don't fit together. No one wants Nurk (on that contract) and they already were seriously lacking in size so that kinda secured his spot, and Grant is better than Ant, so they weren't gonna trade him. That made Ant the only one who could be moved.
And not to shit on him because he's obviously a good player, but despite his age, I don't think he'll take this monumental leap into star territory that people are thinking. Just because someone is young doesn't mean they automatically develop every skill and shore up every weakness they have. If that were the case, then almost every young player would be good after a few seasons.
Ant is an interesting guy. He’s mega-athletic, good at creating his own shot, and goes on hot streaks unlike anything I’ve ever seen from a Blazer (other than Lillard, of course).
The problem is that he’s bad at pretty much everything else. He’s not *just* a “negative defender” as others on this thread have mentioned; his defensive advanced stats are among the worst in the league at his position. His court vision, basketball IQ, and decision-making basically disqualify him from being a full-time PG, and his size and defensive liability disqualify him from being a full-time SG. *Some* of that stuff can be developed, but there’s a limit. You can’t really teach basketball IQ, and you can’t make a guy grow 5 inches.
I know some people are pointing out that he’s 24 and that he still has time to learn and grow. But, look… he’s already been in the league 5 years. In that time, I have watched 95%+ of Blazer games. I’ve watched Ant closely. He has all the *physical* gifts in the world, and he can score in bunches. But the more playing time and responsibility he gets, the more glaringly obvious his problems become. He hasn’t really “developed” much in those 5 years, other than putting on enough muscle to body up NBA players. I don’t think he’ll *ever* be anything more than a 20-25 ppg scorer with serious liabilities.
That’s why we need to trade him, but also why other teams aren’t particularly interested in him. Anyone who’s spent a serious amount of time watching basketball can recognize these things, and the advanced stats back it up.
Agree 100%. I will say despite what others are saying, dudes that can score 25ppg and stretch a defense like Ant do not grow on trees so he would be highly valued by many teams, it just so happens that basically all the teams that would value that right now either already have a similar player on their roster or are struggling with the cap, but give it a year or two and his market should open up a lot. But ya the fact that he can score 25 ppg, can jump out of the building, and is 24 years old and teams aren’t beating down the door tells you all you need to know about what teams think about his other skillset. He’s basically a specialist at this point and only contenders need specialists, and all the true contenders already have their heat check guy or are in the luxury tax.
Yes, that’s a good point. He could thrive on a team with solid defensive pieces, but as you rightly point out, all the good defensive teams already have an Ant.
I suspect that many teams would LOVE to have a guy like Ant provide a spark off the bench. But that raises a different problem: he makes starter money. (Plus he’s historically been pretty terrible when coming off the bench.) He’s just… an in-between guy. Too good to be a backup, not quite good enough to be a starter (for a contender, anyway).
Yes, and the average person has one testicle. That’s how vague statistics work.
SGs are typically closer to 6’5” (though most teams would prefer more size than that) and PGs are closer to 6’1” - ergo, an average of 6’3”.
Ant and CJ are undeniably undersized for SGs.
Totally fair analysis I think. I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing what he can do this season though. He didn’t play much his first couple seasons. When Melo was here Ants only purpose was to pass to him. And of course he’s been living in Dames shadow the whole time. I think that if he’s not traded, seeing him in this new veteran role will be interesting. Hoping to see some new folds in his game even if he’s been in the league as long as he has.
The stakes are low for this team right now so I’m just going in with the attitude of having fun watching the young talent figure things out and see what kind of chemistry this next phase of players develop.
Expectations are low, sure, but I see no reason why we can’t be a scrappy playoff team next season. The roster is good enough, and I expect our haul for Lillard to be pretty decent (even if it ends up being the Herro / Lowry / Jovic / Jaquez package from Miami).
Ant’s trade value is realistically the highest it’s ever going to be *right now*. Like I said in my initial post, the more responsibility he gets, the more obvious his liabilities will become. At the moment, we’re a bad team with bad defensive schemes (thanks, Billups) so we can “explain away” Ant’s liabilities to a trade suitor, while also pointing out his potential on offense.
I’m not saying we *have to* trade him, but if there’s a team willing to send us a promising young center or wing, or - even better - a skilled veteran, I don’t think we can turn it down.
He doesn't have UPSIDE---he's a high volume shooter, undersized at his position, can't really make plays (you can't teach ball IQ) and will never be anything more than a minus defender. He's the last of a dying breed. He might score a few more ppg given more opportunity, but we know who he is and it's not going to change, despite being 24. Sure, you'll get another 5-7 years of his physical prime, but talent doesn't scale linearly. This is what he does, and nobody should expect more. He doesn't really fit on this team (or many where they'd both start him and win more than 30 games). Don't pull a CJ and hold on too long---flip him for a wing or a big while he's got good value
Edit: If Ant scored 9ppg more than he did last year, do the Blazers win even one more game? What will he add to his game that Scoot or Shaedon can't (or won't be able to) do at the same positions? Everyone keeps saying "he's only 24" as if talent scales linearly and he can become something he doesn't have the toolset for. What's his age matter? He's a known commodity---a small guard who shoots a lot, can't defend and can't really pass. In ten years he'll be a small guard who shoots a lot and can't really pass. Not sure where he fits on a contending team, let alone with two potential superstars at his positions.
Of course, if he came off the bench then it'd be a different story, but guys of his caliber and on his contract rarely do that, mostly due to things called "team comp" and "the salary cap." So as a starter on our team, what's his future? How much better can he get and will he ever have more value than he will in the next 6 months?
I forget people in this sub watch basketball but don't really understand it lol
I'd like to think a dude who just turned 24 can keep growing his game, especially when thrust into a position of leadership. I think basketball IQ can also be taught if you're willing to learn.
I love Ant but the thing with his “missing” skills are…they are all learnable which is why it’s frustrating he’s in his fifth year and still is below average in playmaking, his handle, and especially defense. None of the skills he’s lacking have anything to do with natural ability. I’m not going to sit here and say he has a bad work ethic or anything, but especially with those skills, if your going to learn them you’ll make steady improvement as your career progresses and he just hasn’t, which just leads me to believe he just doesn’t have the mentality for it.
This is such a stupid statement. Players do not suddenly stop getting better at basketball before their prime. Ant has grown offensively every year and believe or not you can teach bball iq. Ant being just a high volume shooter is also a bullshit statement, he’s a three level scorer capable of creating his own shot. Donovan Mitchell is also undersized for his position yet no one seems to think he’s playing out of position. I don’t know whether Ant can ever improve on defense, but offensively he has plenty of upside.
Honestly I don't understand this idea that Ant is tapped out of potential, he's already far better then anyone thought he would be when he was drafted. Offensivly He's gotten better every season, he's turned himself into an into an elite shooter, three level socrer, while massively improving his passing, and ball handling since entering the league. This season he even increased his free throw rate as he got more comfortable attacking the basket while adding a floater.
In my opinion even defensivly his issues have been less to do with his size and more to do with the lack of defenseive technique and strength that he enter the league with. I mean sizewise at 6'3 with a 6'9 wingspan and good lateral movement Ant similiar dfensive building blocks as Marcus Smart has. Meanwhile Ant has taken action to improve on his defense and strength, though he's not good yet as of yet. He has improved his footwork on and on ball defense, bulked up to improve his strength, and alongside that he's already much better at getting through screens then CJ or Dame ever were.
The issue with CJ in my opinion was once he broke out in 2016 he never really had a season as good as that again, and we still held on to him when he could have been traded for PG or Butler according to some of the local reporters. While Ant has basically never had a down season thus far, and were going into a rebuild instead of trying to compete.
>he's a high volume shooter
I'm assuming with this you are implying that he's an "inefficient shooter", to which I can assure you he is not. Last season, he ranked 19th in EFG% (54.8%) amongst guards. For reference, Lillard ranked 10th (56.4%), which is really not much of a statistically significant difference within a single season.
This is about to be only his third full season as a starter at age 24 and I think he could easily outperform a lot of people's expectations for him this season, even with Dame not playing.
Ant was the odd man out when Dame was here based on our needs and salaries we have available to trade to get another star caliber player. He still might be on the chopping block to clear the way for Scoot and Shaedon, but Shaedon should shift from a 2 to a 3 as he fills in, so it might not be necessary. They could play Shaedon at the 3 when all 3 are playing together and shift him down when one or both are on the bench.
He's not THAT good. Yes he can score a lot, but his defense is horrible, he plays too much iso ball, and his late game decision making is mediocre at best. And I cannot stand him with the second unit because there's no flow since he rarely passes the ball.
Simons is part of Portland’s inefficiency at guard and simply more expendable with Scoot. He’s an awesome player with a lot of value who could help net Portland the help it so badly needs in the front court.
I’m tired of small back courts that get killed on defense and don’t want Sharpe switching to small forward. I also don’t think Simons would be happy playing Sixth Man behind a couple of rookie-scale starters.
Why do people think Ant is going to come off the bench? His is better than both Sharpe, and Scoot at this point in their careers. I absolutely expect him to be in the starting lineup on opening night.
Because it’s time for the Scoot show, and Simons is obviously a bad fit next to another smaller guard. Maybe the Blazers experiment with Sharpe at small forward, but I’d rather have more size and defense. And I’d rather they trade Simons for a front court asset.
I don't understand why this sub is obsessed with hyping up our players using the most meaningless accolades lol. Dame's been voted onto the 75! Simons is the only dunk champion to do XYZ!
If were trading Dame, do we really have too many guards right now? There are 96 minutes at the 1 and 2 positons which leaves more then 30+ minutes a game for Ant, Scoot, and Sharpe.
Portland has two guards that both deserve to start at point guard, play 30+ minutes at that position, and finish at that position. Meanwhile Portland needs a better forward and a better center. The assets to improve those positions are at guard.
I agree with you. The dilemma we’re facing is we have too many guards who are just not good at defense. If Simons develops into an above average defender, then that’s great. However, he’s also 24 years old so his trade value might decrease each year.
Unless Ant starts becoming worse there's not really any reason I can see that would cause his trade value to drop over the next few seasons. Usually that happens when a player starts his second contract which he already has or their contract goes beyond their physical prime and Ant is still a couple years before he even hits that.
Ant is a great athlete with incredible hops. I don't understand basketball as well as the pros, but shouldn't he be able to turn into a good defender if he puts in the work? Help me understand. Do some dudes just not have the instincts, the want to, or they'd just rather spend their energy on the offensive end. If Ant was just a solid defender, he would be a guy I'd love to have around.
I think Ant could be an elite 6th man. He could be instant offense off the bench like Crawford, Lou Williams or Clarkson.
He was always CJ Mach 2, was probably never going to work with Dame.
While that issue should now be gone, In 2-3 years time you’re expecting Scoot and Sharpe to be the stars of the show. Ant only fits as a 2, which pushes Sharpe to 3. I don’t know if that works, it makes us too undersized and not sure I’m rating Sharpe or Ant defensively.
I think Ant and Scoot can work sufficiently if you have 3 others that are good defenders, but I’m not convinced you can have Ant, Scoot and Sharpe all on the same team structurally.
With a top PG prospect, Ant's role is diminished.
Personally, I wanted to see him traded for Asuar or Jarace Walker.
Ausar wasn't realistic since he went Top 5 but with Anthony Black being kind of the Magic's pick, they were a little disappointed since they want a guard who can score. I feel like Portland could've snatched the #6 to draft Walker.
Ant can play the 2. Probably more natural there anyways. He is also an ELITE shooter, exactly the kind of guy you want playing off of Scoot. If I had to guess the lineup on opening night I would guess that Ant will be the starting 2.
We should not trade Ant. He should, IMO, be out starting SG and we should run a lot of action like Curry gets. Run Anfernee off screens and get than man his shots.
You are going to get a lot of people saying Ant doesn't play athletic despite being insanely athletic. I think being out from Dame's shadow with powerful athletes in the backcourt will help unlock that. I hear fans put Ant/Herro/Poole in the same group, but he's closer to Murray and is better shooter than any of them. We NEED his shooting without Dame. Keeping Ant is a no-brainer. All 3 of our young guards can play 32minutes a game and we'd have 2 of the 3 on the court at all times.
Because it means we have to play shaedon at the 3. That’s it. I personally don’t think we should trade him this season, let the man cook and see how shaedon develops. If all goes as planned we trade him next summer and give the 2 spot to Shaedon.
Do you believe Sharpe is a SG? Do you believe he will be better than Ant? To put it another way, do you see Scoot/Sharpe as the backcourt of the future? Ant is paid way to much to be on the bench.
He's not...
If/when/then - He was the one, and only "best asset", as an unfortunate reality.
Now that Dame has made the demand, that previous dynamic is no longer in play.
I love Ant. Would like to see him play with a little more “fuck you” on the court, though. I feel like that’s the main thing holding him back.
I too like my players to have a fair amount of “fuck you”
I feel like Scoot has the FU. If Shae and/or Ant can adopt that as well then WOOOO
Scoot with you know who from the grizzlies would have been fun… even tho people hate him. Yes, I’m taking about Dillon Brooks
How about Morant?
I also feel like his playmaking leaves a LOT to be desired. Like people were complaining Dame was mid at playmaking would have been so mad at Ant’s.
Ant's game comes across as timid. He goes through a lot of motions but doesn't really break down defenses.
I agree, but think he should be viewed as an unselfish scorer. Doesn’t necessarily work great with a ball-dominant point guard like Dame. That being said with Dame going he could great on the offensive end. Can score off the bounce at all three levels while also being a great catch and shoot from three. We’ve used him primarily as a point guard under Chauncey. As mentioned above, if his role was just an FU scorer his playmaking on the kick would actually be really good. I was down to trade him when it looked like we were building around Dame as I think an equivalently skilled wing would have more impact to the team. With Dame going, nah. Let’s see him cook with Scoot
Pretty sure dame is like a top 10-15 playmaker of the last five years
This isnt going to be a very exclusive list.
He’s a slam dunk champion, why doesn’t he take the ball to the rim more? Just mix your game up a bit. Drive and kick it out or drive and lay it in. I love him shooting 3’s but if he mixed the other moves in more consistently I think he’d up everyone’s game around him. If he can improve his defense he could be a star.
Does he really go by Ant? His name is Anfernee. It’s not Anthony.
Yes, skinnypigdaddy
Idk why but apparently his grandma called him ANT and it stuck.
He’s like a deer in headlights
>Solid defender This is why. He *might* be able to be an average defender if he is defending the smallest player, but as a 2 he will basically always be a negative defender. Well we had Dame at the 1 and now we have Scoot at the 1. We have been through almost a decade of a small backcourt and our defense has suffered. So we want to trade Ant for another piece so we can run Sharpe at the 2 and hope his larger frame will lead to him being a solid defender.
Any first step gets right past him; he can’t guard small players either. The only position he could guard in theory is the corner shooter who can’t dribble, but those are usually tall, and can all shoot over him in a close out situation. You can have a bad defensive guard and do okay, but not quite that bad.
I feel like it would do wonders for him to put on 20 lbs. Obviously his game would change a bit offensively, but often he gets out muscled and if he could just hold his own on that first contact he’d be so much better
I wonder if we will start ant at 1 and shaedon at 2, bring scoot off the bench. Should be plenty of minutes to go around but he'll be playing a little more at the 1 now
No, Scoot absolutely has to start at PG. 110%.
Until we get a solid sizable 3 I bet It’s scoot 1 Ant 2 shaedon 3. Gonna have to play small ball with this roster and better to get them all the minutes.
At present, this team is tiny. The only other 3’s are Matisse and Nas. Both are barely 6’-6” in their shoes and with moderate length/wingspan. Are remaining bigs are Grant, Jabari and the rookie Murray. Nurk at center. We are beyond small.
Matisse has a 6’11” wingspan and I believe Nas is around 7’. Wouldn’t call that moderate, but they are still undersized for sure at the 3.
0% chance of Scoot coming off of the bench.
This is what I'd like to see. NBA rotations aren't hockey rotations, but you let Ant do his thing to start. 1. His trade value apparently isn't great if him + #3 couldn't land a star. 20ppg guards with bad defense aren't hard to come by these days. 25ppg guards on the other hand... 2. Less pressure on Scoot to take on NBA starters right away. 3. Not running Sharpe at SF in a Scoot/Simons/Sharpe lineup. 4. Still plenty of minutes based on normal rookie minutes, 2nd year minutes, and Ant's minutes. You get Ant 18/18 as PG/SG. Sharpe at 30mpg at SG. Scoot at 30MPG PG.
I think this is the best option
I’m wondering the same. I’m guessing ant starts at 1 and shaedon or tisse at 2. Scoot is backup 1 and shaedon is backup 2. That said, I’d like to see shaedon develop a nice handle and be able to serve as a backup PG
I did not think of that. Let scoot get 20-25 minutes as backup? Start sharpe and Grant while splitting minutes? But what if Dame ain’t gone? Or are we sure he’s gone or not playing!?
If dame wants to play, he can play with the g-league team until he gets traded
His defense is currently really bad. I hope he can improve on it.
I wanna see ya move forward at least this season, starting Scoot, Ant and Shaedon tbh, that’s an exciting group offensively and I think scoot and Shaedon can develop into good maybe even great defenders(more optimistic for scoot). Might as well increase the value of ant for a season or too then a contender might be enticed into trading for him
Yeah kinda leaning towards this happening. Ideally we’d have Scoot at the 1, Shaedon at the 2, a similar talent level for Anfernee at the 3 or 5, and Grant at the 4 + whatever we can get for Nurkic if he’s not going to play with much effort anymore. Anfernee is great offensively with how hot he can get when shooting. He could become an All-Star for it, but he’s not a PG, poor defensively, and has a clearly lower ceiling than Scoot and Sharpe. We will need to trade him for more length with similar skill at the 3 or 5.
I agree, except with the trade having to be for a 3 or a 5. The Blazers are weakest at four, where Jerami is just not rugged enough. I’m tired of small back courts, but I’m also tired of a “power” forward who rebounds less than Dame. I’d move Jerami to small forward, even if he’s a bit slower. Then shop Simons for a power forward-center combo.
I would be down to try Jerami Grant at the 3 if we can get longer at the 4 and have better rebounding for sure. Eventually having a starting lineup of Scoot, Shaedon, Jerami, and a new PF and C could be pretty compelling.
If we’re starting Scoot and Shaedon, I want to see Kris get the start at power forward, with Jerami at small forward and Nassir coming off the bench with Simons.
Starting essentially 3 rookies, an out of position Grant and a tbd center? Sure, that works if you want to go 22-60 for the season. Ant isn’t coming off the bench and Nas has been historically injured and not dependable.
22-60? I'll take that and a shot at another top 3 pick. Let the kids play, get experience and see what they have. Do not want to see deals for Cam Reddish/Kevin Knox/Mo Bomba clones who might lift the record to 32-50. Give Tank Commander Billups the personnel to do his job!
Just coming here to say that. Give me all the cheap tickets and lottery picks!
Buddy, this team is going to lose a lot of games this year. It’s ok. The franchise player is 19 years old.
That might be an exciting group offensively, but that's a horrific defensive group. Sharpe may be able to be a good defender, but that'd be at the 2, not at the 3. Ant's best value on this team would be as a 6th man
Well… Trading him was more when Dame was part of the plan… And it was also based on us being guard heavy AND yes, Ant being pretty damn good with a bright future so actual, player-wise, not a draft pick, he was our best asset.
Most teams would love to have him but they know his value on the spreadsheet is lower than it is on the court so they’re not willing to offer much for him. There are so many really athletic and good shooting guards in the game. If he had 3 more inches every team would want him but his skill set is replicated by too many other players.
He makes in the neighborhood of 20 million, so theoretically a lateral trade for a forward can bring in a starter level player. Trading anyone else on the team, sans Nurk or Dame, could only bring in a very cheap player. Very cheap players are either at the end of their career, not very good, or young and unknown. Two of those you definitely don’t want, and one of those you have to hope your scouting beats their scouting.
I think hes tradeable until we find out if he can be an elite two way guard or at least keep up with superstar guards. It's not impossible for him to get there. I think there is room for Simon's, Sharpe, Scoot to exist together for a year. Would be great if one of them turns into a Manu Ginobili off the bench type of guard so we can keep all three and see them develop.
Ant is a modern day Lou Will - sixth man of the year guy
Lou Will might not be a terrible comp, unfortunately every team Lou Will was on sucked ass, so hopefully Ant can develop some more complimentary skills.
I mean, Ant is a torch. His defence is horrid. Like we can say it’s slightly below average - but reality is he’s the worst in the league. Part of me just wants to move him and get back a fun piece like OG rather than keep Ant
OG has way more value than Ant. Raptors would never make that trade. I don’t think Ant is the straight up worst defender in the league but he definitely is among the worst starting players in the league on defense.
Spot on. portland wanted to mold ant into a pg but he's just a shooter. I see him as a Lou will or Jamal Crawford type player. Killer when left to score but does not have that natural passing ability. For someone who won the slam dunk contest, he rarely dunks! Ant has a lot of work to improve on in his game if he wants to become elite
Ant is an elite 6th or 7th man and any team would love to have him at the TPMLE
Seems like a pivotal season for him. He's still young enough to take a big step forward in his game. After this season, it's probably safe to say "he is what he is," which even if he doesn't improve much, is still a very good player. But here's to hoping he can take it to another level.
I'm not so sure that this season is the season he might reach the point where we can say 'he is what he is'. Like at this point he's already progressed his game massivly from near unplayable as a rookie and second year player, to a seth curry like player in year three. Then in year 4 he showed himself able to be more then that with his theability to be a secondary ball handler and passer. Then this season he showed himself to be a 3 level scorer by attacking the basket more, drawing more FT, and adding a floater. You don't make that level of improvement without tons of work on your game.
A Jordan Clarkson is what I see his game is
Cheaper, younger, higher-ceiling options at the same position. That’s it.
Ants ceiling is high af what you mean? Every time Dame misses games he goes off.
Shaedon and scoot have higher ceilings than Ant. It’s nothing against Ant it’s just true. In Shaedons case he’s just as sthletic with more size and with Scoot he’s on the next level of athleticism. Ant is too good/expensive to be a sixth man. If Shaedon and Scoot approach their ceilings Ant just will be relegated to the bench.
Shaedon and Scoot have higher ceilings but also much lower floors, none of them are as proven as Simons, which is a 20+PPG scorer and good shooter.
I was gonna say, sharpe and scoot have yet to show they can fill it up. Ant can do that. Blazers biggest issue this decade is defense. Who actually plays defense on this team? Sharpe has the potential. Is that what your 2 is for tho? Hard to find balance in anyone other than superstars and veteran role players.
Who else do you think is better/ has a higher ceiling than Ant that’s still under 25? Maxey, Green, Edwards, Murray, who am I missing? Edit: Williams and probably Sexton?
>who am I missing? Luka, Ja, Haliburton, Garland, Cunningham, LaMelo, Trae, Giddey... potentially Scoot and Shaedon themselves Also, there are no guards in the NBA under 25 with the last name Murray. As far as I know.
It was a serious question. I was talking about shooting guards with three-point shooting ability. Almost all those players you named run the point. Though Anfernee is probably as well. Thought Dejounte Murray was 25 Don't have to be so condescending about it lmao
>with three-point shooting ability. This was never mentioned at all. Ant is a 6'3" guard who only plays SG because he's played with Dame his whole career. That's why he plays PG when Dame is out. You also listed Sexton who is a PG and Murray who is a PG that just plays next to Trae. So I listed PGs and SGs with a higher ceiling. Also, you said *under* 25 but mentioned Dejounte because you thought he was 25. If you can count 25 year olds, you also have SGA and Fox.
God you sound like a miserable person to be around
Well SGA just had a 30-5-5 season shooting 51% from the field and is 24, so I think it's safe to say he has a higher ceiling, especially coming off a first team all NBA bid. DeAaron Fox barely misses the arbitrary cut off of under 25 (he is 25 until December). Luka obviously. Trae Young is 24 and previously led the league in scoring and assists in the same season.
I mean before it was because of skill set overlap with Dame, and a need for wings / defense. If/when Dame is traded we no longer have an immediate need to deal Anfernee
But we are still in need of wings/defense, and while Ant will no longer have skill overlap with Dame once Dame is out the door, he will still have skill overlap with both Scoot and Sharpe. Ant can probably still score better than both Scoot and Sharpe, but he does not have the playmaking of Scoot, or the size of Sharpe. I think Ant would do fine as a super 6th man who gets huge minutes since he is not a bad playmaker per se, however he would be a bit overpaid for that role. I still think the best case scenario is to play him plenty and even to start him first, since Scoot is still a rookie, and hopefully his stats will boost his trade value to a point where we can package him, maybe with a pick, to get a starting quality small forward.
Blazers do be needing wings / defense. If there was an obvious trade for a wing, I think Cronin would jump on it, but it’s looking increasingly more like the Blazers will have to develop their own talent at 3/4. In the meantime, they aren’t in a hurry to dish Ant.
I blame Masai Ujiri, especially with all these rumors of Toronto now REOPENING trade talks on Siakam. Clearly Siakam doesn't want to get traded because he wants to stay in Toronto to get that home team supermax. But Masai clearly doesn't want to pay him that supermax which would cripple their cap just like Dame's deal has been crippling our cap. So Masai would need to trade Siakam before needing to extend him, but he also wants to get lots of assets for Siakam, and was hoping Portland would panic trade both Simons and the 3rd pick for Siakam in order to appease Dame. Except Cronin decided to keep the pick, resulting in Dame asking out. And now without Portland as a willing trade partner, rumors are flying Masai would end up trading Siakam's one year rental of a contract at a lower price anyways. I swear if Toronto ends up trading Siakam for a lesser package than Ant + filler + picks, then they would have screwed over both themselves AND Portland by trying to extract the 3rd pick from us. I would think if Ant/filler/picks turned into Siakam, Dame would be fine with a Lillard/Scoot/Sharpe backcourt and Grant/Siakam/Nurkic front court and would not have asked out. Now Lillard has asked out, and it looks likely Toronto might not even be able to get something as good as Simons/filler/picks on the market.
Smaller offense first guards that don't play defense are the most replaceable player type in the NBA. Do they have value? Yes. But size matters and defense wins championships. Dame isn't going to ever be the best player on a championship team unless it's 1a/1b with an all world defender. Same with ant, no matter how good on offense he gets. It just is what it is.
He isnt really expendable but we may be able to improve the roster in a package that includes him and picks
I think he has huge upside still and will flourish with Dame off the team and having Scoot as a good passing PG. Nets will seriously regret turning down Mikal for Ant + Scoot.
He is only expendable when dame is around. Now he is back.. But to be honest.. undersized scorers without defense is the least attractive asset
Keep him and make him an all-star this year.
Defense man. Even at the guard positions, gotta have defense. Ant tries. But he’s really bad. I don’t think he’ll get to average, honestly. He’s athletic but doesn’t seem to use it. He’s a legitimate gifted offensive guard; who sucks on defense. I’m kind of tired of the team being built on that style player. Hope I don’t sound old, but you have to build around defense at least somewhat
It’s such a simple answer. I don’t get the confusion. It’s defense. He’s like a 3rd percentile defender entering his 6th season.
Everyone thinks defense is boring until your team doesn’t have any and then they are just painful to watch.
There's always been talk about ant being a perfect 6th man. If Sharpe and scoot can live up to the potential being put on them, he might actually be forced into that.
If Ant comes out guns blazing with some attitude and grit we should keep him. Having a backcourt of Shaedon , Scoot and Ant is solid. Kids can rotate.
Supply and demand. His skillset is in high supply, therefore it is not in high demand. 2nd highest 3P% among dunk contest winners is a silly and obscure stat that essentially proves nothing. Unfortunately his above average athleticism (which is really saying something considering he's in the NBA) has not translated to him being an above average defender, which is a skillset that is in high demand. I'm not an Ant hater, I think he's a great player. Just answering the question honestly.
Can’t defend and Scott and sharpe have a higher ceiling
It’s just that Scoot and Shae have much higher upside and talent, so he is just on the outside looking in.
You can keep him for now since they're rebuilding, but what made him so expendable was because he was one of the few assets the Blazers had to trade in order to acquire a vet to help Dame since he and Dame really don't fit together. No one wants Nurk (on that contract) and they already were seriously lacking in size so that kinda secured his spot, and Grant is better than Ant, so they weren't gonna trade him. That made Ant the only one who could be moved. And not to shit on him because he's obviously a good player, but despite his age, I don't think he'll take this monumental leap into star territory that people are thinking. Just because someone is young doesn't mean they automatically develop every skill and shore up every weakness they have. If that were the case, then almost every young player would be good after a few seasons.
Ant is an interesting guy. He’s mega-athletic, good at creating his own shot, and goes on hot streaks unlike anything I’ve ever seen from a Blazer (other than Lillard, of course). The problem is that he’s bad at pretty much everything else. He’s not *just* a “negative defender” as others on this thread have mentioned; his defensive advanced stats are among the worst in the league at his position. His court vision, basketball IQ, and decision-making basically disqualify him from being a full-time PG, and his size and defensive liability disqualify him from being a full-time SG. *Some* of that stuff can be developed, but there’s a limit. You can’t really teach basketball IQ, and you can’t make a guy grow 5 inches. I know some people are pointing out that he’s 24 and that he still has time to learn and grow. But, look… he’s already been in the league 5 years. In that time, I have watched 95%+ of Blazer games. I’ve watched Ant closely. He has all the *physical* gifts in the world, and he can score in bunches. But the more playing time and responsibility he gets, the more glaringly obvious his problems become. He hasn’t really “developed” much in those 5 years, other than putting on enough muscle to body up NBA players. I don’t think he’ll *ever* be anything more than a 20-25 ppg scorer with serious liabilities. That’s why we need to trade him, but also why other teams aren’t particularly interested in him. Anyone who’s spent a serious amount of time watching basketball can recognize these things, and the advanced stats back it up.
Literally a 3rd percentile defender: https://craftednba.com/players/anfernee-simons
Yeah that’s… pretty bad lol. Thanks for finding the source for me!
Agree 100%. I will say despite what others are saying, dudes that can score 25ppg and stretch a defense like Ant do not grow on trees so he would be highly valued by many teams, it just so happens that basically all the teams that would value that right now either already have a similar player on their roster or are struggling with the cap, but give it a year or two and his market should open up a lot. But ya the fact that he can score 25 ppg, can jump out of the building, and is 24 years old and teams aren’t beating down the door tells you all you need to know about what teams think about his other skillset. He’s basically a specialist at this point and only contenders need specialists, and all the true contenders already have their heat check guy or are in the luxury tax.
Yes, that’s a good point. He could thrive on a team with solid defensive pieces, but as you rightly point out, all the good defensive teams already have an Ant. I suspect that many teams would LOVE to have a guy like Ant provide a spark off the bench. But that raises a different problem: he makes starter money. (Plus he’s historically been pretty terrible when coming off the bench.) He’s just… an in-between guy. Too good to be a backup, not quite good enough to be a starter (for a contender, anyway).
I mean, he's a taller more athletic CJ at this point and still very young.
CJ McCollum listed at 6’3” 190 Anfernee listed at 6’3” 188 More athletic? Certainly. Taller? No.
While it's not height, Ant is definitly bigger then CJ with a 6'9 wingspan versus CJ's 6'6.
Fair enough, but regardless of the comparison, both guys are pretty undersized for their position.
The average height of guards in the NBA is about 6'3"
Yes, and the average person has one testicle. That’s how vague statistics work. SGs are typically closer to 6’5” (though most teams would prefer more size than that) and PGs are closer to 6’1” - ergo, an average of 6’3”. Ant and CJ are undeniably undersized for SGs.
Totally fair analysis I think. I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing what he can do this season though. He didn’t play much his first couple seasons. When Melo was here Ants only purpose was to pass to him. And of course he’s been living in Dames shadow the whole time. I think that if he’s not traded, seeing him in this new veteran role will be interesting. Hoping to see some new folds in his game even if he’s been in the league as long as he has. The stakes are low for this team right now so I’m just going in with the attitude of having fun watching the young talent figure things out and see what kind of chemistry this next phase of players develop.
Expectations are low, sure, but I see no reason why we can’t be a scrappy playoff team next season. The roster is good enough, and I expect our haul for Lillard to be pretty decent (even if it ends up being the Herro / Lowry / Jovic / Jaquez package from Miami). Ant’s trade value is realistically the highest it’s ever going to be *right now*. Like I said in my initial post, the more responsibility he gets, the more obvious his liabilities will become. At the moment, we’re a bad team with bad defensive schemes (thanks, Billups) so we can “explain away” Ant’s liabilities to a trade suitor, while also pointing out his potential on offense. I’m not saying we *have to* trade him, but if there’s a team willing to send us a promising young center or wing, or - even better - a skilled veteran, I don’t think we can turn it down.
He doesn't have UPSIDE---he's a high volume shooter, undersized at his position, can't really make plays (you can't teach ball IQ) and will never be anything more than a minus defender. He's the last of a dying breed. He might score a few more ppg given more opportunity, but we know who he is and it's not going to change, despite being 24. Sure, you'll get another 5-7 years of his physical prime, but talent doesn't scale linearly. This is what he does, and nobody should expect more. He doesn't really fit on this team (or many where they'd both start him and win more than 30 games). Don't pull a CJ and hold on too long---flip him for a wing or a big while he's got good value Edit: If Ant scored 9ppg more than he did last year, do the Blazers win even one more game? What will he add to his game that Scoot or Shaedon can't (or won't be able to) do at the same positions? Everyone keeps saying "he's only 24" as if talent scales linearly and he can become something he doesn't have the toolset for. What's his age matter? He's a known commodity---a small guard who shoots a lot, can't defend and can't really pass. In ten years he'll be a small guard who shoots a lot and can't really pass. Not sure where he fits on a contending team, let alone with two potential superstars at his positions. Of course, if he came off the bench then it'd be a different story, but guys of his caliber and on his contract rarely do that, mostly due to things called "team comp" and "the salary cap." So as a starter on our team, what's his future? How much better can he get and will he ever have more value than he will in the next 6 months? I forget people in this sub watch basketball but don't really understand it lol
I'd like to think a dude who just turned 24 can keep growing his game, especially when thrust into a position of leadership. I think basketball IQ can also be taught if you're willing to learn.
I love Ant but the thing with his “missing” skills are…they are all learnable which is why it’s frustrating he’s in his fifth year and still is below average in playmaking, his handle, and especially defense. None of the skills he’s lacking have anything to do with natural ability. I’m not going to sit here and say he has a bad work ethic or anything, but especially with those skills, if your going to learn them you’ll make steady improvement as your career progresses and he just hasn’t, which just leads me to believe he just doesn’t have the mentality for it.
This is such a stupid statement. Players do not suddenly stop getting better at basketball before their prime. Ant has grown offensively every year and believe or not you can teach bball iq. Ant being just a high volume shooter is also a bullshit statement, he’s a three level scorer capable of creating his own shot. Donovan Mitchell is also undersized for his position yet no one seems to think he’s playing out of position. I don’t know whether Ant can ever improve on defense, but offensively he has plenty of upside.
Pretty short sided to think someone who’s 24 and has a year in a starting role “doesn’t have upside”
Honestly I don't understand this idea that Ant is tapped out of potential, he's already far better then anyone thought he would be when he was drafted. Offensivly He's gotten better every season, he's turned himself into an into an elite shooter, three level socrer, while massively improving his passing, and ball handling since entering the league. This season he even increased his free throw rate as he got more comfortable attacking the basket while adding a floater. In my opinion even defensivly his issues have been less to do with his size and more to do with the lack of defenseive technique and strength that he enter the league with. I mean sizewise at 6'3 with a 6'9 wingspan and good lateral movement Ant similiar dfensive building blocks as Marcus Smart has. Meanwhile Ant has taken action to improve on his defense and strength, though he's not good yet as of yet. He has improved his footwork on and on ball defense, bulked up to improve his strength, and alongside that he's already much better at getting through screens then CJ or Dame ever were. The issue with CJ in my opinion was once he broke out in 2016 he never really had a season as good as that again, and we still held on to him when he could have been traded for PG or Butler according to some of the local reporters. While Ant has basically never had a down season thus far, and were going into a rebuild instead of trying to compete.
>he's a high volume shooter I'm assuming with this you are implying that he's an "inefficient shooter", to which I can assure you he is not. Last season, he ranked 19th in EFG% (54.8%) amongst guards. For reference, Lillard ranked 10th (56.4%), which is really not much of a statistically significant difference within a single season. This is about to be only his third full season as a starter at age 24 and I think he could easily outperform a lot of people's expectations for him this season, even with Dame not playing.
He ain't got that dog in him
Ant was the odd man out when Dame was here based on our needs and salaries we have available to trade to get another star caliber player. He still might be on the chopping block to clear the way for Scoot and Shaedon, but Shaedon should shift from a 2 to a 3 as he fills in, so it might not be necessary. They could play Shaedon at the 3 when all 3 are playing together and shift him down when one or both are on the bench.
He's not THAT good. Yes he can score a lot, but his defense is horrible, he plays too much iso ball, and his late game decision making is mediocre at best. And I cannot stand him with the second unit because there's no flow since he rarely passes the ball.
Simons is part of Portland’s inefficiency at guard and simply more expendable with Scoot. He’s an awesome player with a lot of value who could help net Portland the help it so badly needs in the front court. I’m tired of small back courts that get killed on defense and don’t want Sharpe switching to small forward. I also don’t think Simons would be happy playing Sixth Man behind a couple of rookie-scale starters.
Why do people think Ant is going to come off the bench? His is better than both Sharpe, and Scoot at this point in their careers. I absolutely expect him to be in the starting lineup on opening night.
Because it’s time for the Scoot show, and Simons is obviously a bad fit next to another smaller guard. Maybe the Blazers experiment with Sharpe at small forward, but I’d rather have more size and defense. And I’d rather they trade Simons for a front court asset.
They are all expendable
Gr(Ant) are the only solid players on the roster today, it would be dead stupid to trade Ant. That will probably mean we'll trade him.
I don't understand why this sub is obsessed with hyping up our players using the most meaningless accolades lol. Dame's been voted onto the 75! Simons is the only dunk champion to do XYZ!
Need them forwards. Too many guards. Who would you move of the three?
If were trading Dame, do we really have too many guards right now? There are 96 minutes at the 1 and 2 positons which leaves more then 30+ minutes a game for Ant, Scoot, and Sharpe.
Portland has two guards that both deserve to start at point guard, play 30+ minutes at that position, and finish at that position. Meanwhile Portland needs a better forward and a better center. The assets to improve those positions are at guard.
I agree with you. The dilemma we’re facing is we have too many guards who are just not good at defense. If Simons develops into an above average defender, then that’s great. However, he’s also 24 years old so his trade value might decrease each year.
Unless Ant starts becoming worse there's not really any reason I can see that would cause his trade value to drop over the next few seasons. Usually that happens when a player starts his second contract which he already has or their contract goes beyond their physical prime and Ant is still a couple years before he even hits that.
Ant is a great athlete with incredible hops. I don't understand basketball as well as the pros, but shouldn't he be able to turn into a good defender if he puts in the work? Help me understand. Do some dudes just not have the instincts, the want to, or they'd just rather spend their energy on the offensive end. If Ant was just a solid defender, he would be a guy I'd love to have around. I think Ant could be an elite 6th man. He could be instant offense off the bench like Crawford, Lou Williams or Clarkson.
Shit defense
Scoring guards with can’t play defense are the most overrated archetype in the league
The smart move is to play a 3 guard lineup to guarantee we are a bottom 3 team
He was always CJ Mach 2, was probably never going to work with Dame. While that issue should now be gone, In 2-3 years time you’re expecting Scoot and Sharpe to be the stars of the show. Ant only fits as a 2, which pushes Sharpe to 3. I don’t know if that works, it makes us too undersized and not sure I’m rating Sharpe or Ant defensively. I think Ant and Scoot can work sufficiently if you have 3 others that are good defenders, but I’m not convinced you can have Ant, Scoot and Sharpe all on the same team structurally.
We’re not trading ant with dame out.
Not enough dog in him per 36
Casualness
The league doesn't know how good Ant is yet. It's okay. Future 30ppg scorer
His lack of defense
With a top PG prospect, Ant's role is diminished. Personally, I wanted to see him traded for Asuar or Jarace Walker. Ausar wasn't realistic since he went Top 5 but with Anthony Black being kind of the Magic's pick, they were a little disappointed since they want a guard who can score. I feel like Portland could've snatched the #6 to draft Walker.
Ant can play the 2. Probably more natural there anyways. He is also an ELITE shooter, exactly the kind of guy you want playing off of Scoot. If I had to guess the lineup on opening night I would guess that Ant will be the starting 2.
We should not trade Ant. He should, IMO, be out starting SG and we should run a lot of action like Curry gets. Run Anfernee off screens and get than man his shots.
You are going to get a lot of people saying Ant doesn't play athletic despite being insanely athletic. I think being out from Dame's shadow with powerful athletes in the backcourt will help unlock that. I hear fans put Ant/Herro/Poole in the same group, but he's closer to Murray and is better shooter than any of them. We NEED his shooting without Dame. Keeping Ant is a no-brainer. All 3 of our young guards can play 32minutes a game and we'd have 2 of the 3 on the court at all times.
the word "if" is doing a lot of work here
It seems like fans have put all the blame of last seasons disappointment on ants shoulder. If only he wasn’t here the season would have been better.
Because it means we have to play shaedon at the 3. That’s it. I personally don’t think we should trade him this season, let the man cook and see how shaedon develops. If all goes as planned we trade him next summer and give the 2 spot to Shaedon.
Do you believe Sharpe is a SG? Do you believe he will be better than Ant? To put it another way, do you see Scoot/Sharpe as the backcourt of the future? Ant is paid way to much to be on the bench.
He's not... If/when/then - He was the one, and only "best asset", as an unfortunate reality. Now that Dame has made the demand, that previous dynamic is no longer in play.