Ant is only what, 23? He had 1/2 a season as a starter on a tanking team and he played a different role than the one he plays now as a starter, for the first time in his career, for a winning team. He is too good, too smooth to dismiss that quickly, imho.
I am not saying that if an amazing deal is there he is untradeable, but he is certainly not someone you should actively pursue a trade for. You work with him and the team to get better, because he will. If anything, having Dame, Ant and Sharpe together is a great foundation for the present and the future.
I tend to agree with that. I've been saying since at least last season's trade deadline that the Blazers should at least have the patience to see how the Dame/Ant combo does for a full season. Last night's game was a good example for why. Both players struggled for most of the game, but down 6 with less than 5 minutes left, both players were instrumental in getting the win
4:41.0 - 106-102
D. Eubanks makes 2-pt layup from 2 ft (assist by
D. Lillard)
4:21.0 - 106-104
A. Simons makes 2-pt layup from 1 ft (assist by
D. Lillard)
3:57.0 - 106-106
D. Eubanks makes 2-pt hook shot from 1 ft (assist by
D. Lillard)
3:57.0 - 106-107
D. Eubanks makes free throw 1 of 1
3:24.0 - 106-110
D. Lillard makes 3-pt jump shot from 32 ft (assist by
J. Grant)
2:05.0 - 108-113
A. Simons makes 3-pt jump shot from 26 ft
0:28.0 - 110-116
A. Simons makes free throw 1 of 2
0:28.0 - 110-117
A. Simons makes free throw 2 of 2
maybe another player could plug into Ant's role and provide the same, but that's not guaranteed. Seems like in just about every game Ant seems cold from the three, then suddenly heats up, often at a critical time. There really is no compelling reason to search for a Simons trade at this point in time
So many conversations about CJ were almost word for word with this statement.
Edit- Not saying you are wrong at all.
yeah, that's the rub. The difference, hopefully, is that Olshey isn't around to insanely overrate Ant's value like he did with CJ
obviously, there are some reasons to be concerned that a Dame/Ant combo will repeat some of the major flaws of the Dame/CJ era. But there may be more reasons to not be concerned as there are to worry. To start with, Ant isn't the same player as CJ; Billups is not the same as Stotts; Cronin is not the same as Olshey.
now, it's possible that as Sharpe develops the Blazers will end up with a
Monta Ellis/Klay Thompson situation. I think Sharpe would be far better as a full-time SG, even though the wing positions seem pretty interchangeable. If that happens, then Portland might need to decide if they want to pay Simons 25M/year to be a 6th man
