Does Ant HAVE to be traded?

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Is an Ant trade the only option?

  • Yes

    Votes: 28 68.3%

  • No, Dame/Ant/Sharpe can coexist

    Votes: 11 26.8%

  • No, trade Dame instead and blow it up

    Votes: 2 4.9%

  • No, trade Shaedon instead

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    41
(This thread is great btw @illmatic99 It’s a very good question)

I want to say yes, but it’s all about the return. Less than OG and it seems like a bad idea.

It feels like our starting lineup needs either a defensive 3 or 4–like OG or Bridges—with Jerami acting as the other forward. Ideally similar to a better version of Chief and Mo.

So if it takes Ant and picks to get a player of that caliber then so be it. Otherwise, it seems like we in here (for one) might be undervaluing his value.
 
GrandpaBlaze said:
I've not been silent on the fact that I dislike Ant. I find him a streaky one-dimensional player that on occasion helps but his absolute lack of defense, streakiness (inconsistency) and the fact that the offense seems to grind down when he pretend-plays "PG", I want him gone.

For what he brings, I find him overpriced. If he was a cheaper, off-the-bench-sparkplug type player, perhaps but as-is; no thank you.

So from my perspective, he HAS to be traded.
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Totally agree with Gramps on all of his points, never been a fan of Ant or his style of play.
 
The fact is that we need to move on from the Dame/Ant back court. The other fact is that if we are serious about acquiring an all star to play with Dame then Ant's contract is likely going to be needed in a package just to help match that of the incoming all star.
 
blazerkor said:
The fact is that we need to move on from the Dame/Ant back court. The other fact is that if we are serious about acquiring an all star to play with Dame then Ant's contract is likely going to be needed in a package just to help match that of the incoming all star.
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Omg this feels verbatim what we said about CJ, too. All the words. Lol. What a weird place we are in as a team.
 
Strenuus said:
Omg this feels verbatim what we said about CJ, too. All the words. Lol. What a weird place we are in as a team.
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It's so surreal that we're having these exact conversations about 6 or 7 years later. I honestly think that there is a case to be made for keeping Ant if we are moving on from Dame but if we are building around Dame I just don't see how you do that successfully while retaining Ant. Again, things said about CJ over half a decade ago.
 
To me, Ant's best skillset is his shooting. He's not a facilitator. He'd be great in the 6th man gunner role. A Lou Williams or Jamal Crawford type role. Ant is such an awesome guy. But you have to trade something of worth to get back a quality player of need. The business side of pro sports sucks. But it ain't changing anytime soon.
 
blazerkor said:
It's so surreal that we're having these exact conversations about 6 or 7 years later. I honestly think that there is a case to be made for keeping Ant if we are moving on from Dame but if we are building around Dame I just don't see how you do that successfully while retaining Ant. Again, things said about CJ over half a decade ago.
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Agreed.

Someone said, and I don't remember who? Maybe TBPup, but they said you can keep two of: Dame, Ant, Sharpe, Lottery pick. My thing would be Dame and Sharpe. But what does Ant and #2-8 get you? I don't think Ants value is very high.
 
Strenuus said:
Agreed.

Someone said, and I don't remember who? Maybe TBPup, but they said you can keep two of: Dame, Ant, Sharpe, Lottery pick. My thing would be Dame and Sharpe. But what does Ant and #2-8 get you? I don't think Ants value is very high.
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We better hope it's more than you think. If not, the Blazers shouldn't be keeping him anyway at that high salary amount.
 
Strenuus said:
Agreed.

Someone said, and I don't remember who? Maybe TBPup, but they said you can keep two of: Dame, Ant, Sharpe, Lottery pick. My thing would be Dame and Sharpe. But what does Ant and #2-8 get you? I don't think Ants value is very high.
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I think if the commitment to Dame is that we're going to get him a second all star at a position of need then you'll probably have to trade Ant, Nurk, our pick and/or multiple other first rounders (23 and future).
 
Ant makes too much money for the liability he is on defense. He’s an exciting young player that will never get you too far in the playoffs
 
RR7 said:
??
Atlanta moves up in the draft 4 spots(pending lotto), and sheds a TON of salary, helping their cap picture. Orlando moves down 12 spots and gets a young lead guard to pair with Paolo and Wagner. Portland moves up and adds a starting PF.

View attachment 55685
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I think this is a great example of a trade. Would Atlanta want Ant? Who knows. But great to come up with an actual trade vs saying "trade him" or "keep him".

Gold star post!
 
Phatguysrule said:
There is no reason Cronin shouldn't be able to get good value out of Ant. If he can't do it by the start if next season he might be in over his head.
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He might believe his value has the potential to rise. Ant could make a spicy deadline move if he's on a hot streak.
 
Anfernee is too small for full time SG on the already undersized Blazers roster. When Ant can get on a heater it's fun to watch. But its also very apparent when opponents take advantage of Anfernee's wimpy defense.

If the Blazers blow it up, Simons will be a terrific lead guard to grind out Portland towards top 4 picks.

If the Blazers want vets that play defense, and take winning games more serious then padding personal stats, then Simons must get traded.

I don't hold anything against Simons, he's a bright young man with terrific athletic ability. He could eventually become a top 10 scorer in this league. Anfernee is simply a misfit in the confusing coagulation of Portland's franchise narratives.
 
wizenheimer said:
he was buried on the bench though. Adelman didn't give him much opportunity
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True. He only got 13mpg as a rookie. Though playing that few minutes as a rookie was common. Obviously he blew up in New Jersey.
 
How is Anfernee going to gain playoff experience, if the Blazers keep messing up and miss the playoffs ?
 
Tince said:
Trade him for what though? That's the big question. If he's overpriced for what he brings (as you've said), what we should expect in return for him should also be underwhelming.
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Yeah I think that needs to be the basis of considering trading Ant. Do we dump him for Eric Bledsoe type of partially guaranteed contract for the following season as we did with Powell? That would be terrible.

Now if we can trade him for a similarly talented forward or big yes it may be worth exploring.
 
RR7 said:
??
Atlanta moves up in the draft 4 spots(pending lotto), and sheds a TON of salary, helping their cap picture. Orlando moves down 12 spots and gets a young lead guard to pair with Paolo and Wagner. Portland moves up and adds a starting PF.

View attachment 55685
Click to expand...
I like the creativity. However I don't see why Orlando does that, they have to use cap space on a huge contract and lose a lottery pick. Maybe just take all the draft picks out of the trade and its closer to fair.

From the Blazers side; what about Ant for Collins straight up?

I wouldn't do that trade on its own, but if somehow Cronin added a stud two way player in the front court for Nurk+picks, and now Collins was the last piece for a contending starting 5 it would be closer to making sense. Still, concerns I have is trading Ant's upside for an older player in Collins, as well as Collins not being the high level defender we want in the frontcourt of a Dame contending team.

As much as the backcourt is seemingly overcrowded currently with Dame/Ant/Sharpe.... if we all the sudden ship out Ant for a frontcourt player then having just Dame and Sharpe is super thin. If one of them misses extended games we are in a lot of trouble. Sharpe might not improve in his sophomore year as much as we hope, instead being a few years away.

I'm open to moving Ant if it makes sense, but when I evaluate actual realistic trade offers I don't see many that would be good. So I'm totally fine if the Blazers keep him. I hope Cronin doesn't sell low on Ant.
 
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UKRAINEFAN said:
Did you know that 36 shooting guards had a better ts% than him 22-23?
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Thats because his lack of FTs brings down his true shooting %.

He is an elite 3pt shooter on high volume. He has 5 games already in his career with 9 or more made threes. The only guys above hin are: Steph (39), Dame (14), Klay (12), and Harden (9).

And he only started getting regular starter minutes last year. But he's like 10 yrs younger than the guys ahead of him on the list.
 
illmatic99 said:
Thats because his lack of FTs brings down his true shooting %.
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but in the NBA that's a huge weakness that significantly impacts his value. It doesn't matter how pretty a shooting form is. What matters is the points/shot:

Dame 1.55 points/shot
Eubanks 1.55
Watford 1.42
Grant 1.41
Nurk 1.38
Hart 1.34
Ant 1.25
Reddish 1.25
Sharpe 1.22
Thybulle 1.19
Little 1.18
Knox 1.16

Desmond Bane 1.33
Jordan Poole 1.31
Malik Monk 1.31
Keegan Murray 1.25

he's not out of place compared to other role players. He just has the CJ problem and that't his style of offense just won't draw whistles and generate critical points from the line

illmatic99 said:
He is an elite 3pt shooter on high volume. He has 5 games already in his career with 9 or more made threes. The only guys above hin are: Steph (39), Dame (14), Klay (12), and Harden (9).

And he only started getting regular starter minutes last year. But he's like 10 yrs younger than the guys ahead of him on the list.
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that's all true, and that has value as well as offering some hope for more upside. But right now, and FT Rate is part of this, he's at 3rd-4th-option/role-player/6th-man level by impact and temperament.
 
wizenheimer said:
but in the NBA that's a huge weakness that significantly impacts his value. It doesn't matter how pretty a shooting form is. What matters is the points/shot:

Dame 1.55 points/shot
Eubanks 1.55
Watford 1.42
Grant 1.41
Nurk 1.38
Hart 1.34
Ant 1.25
Reddish 1.25
Sharpe 1.22
Thybulle 1.19
Little 1.18
Knox 1.16

Desmond Bane 1.33
Jordan Poole 1.31
Malik Monk 1.31
Keegan Murray 1.25

he's not out of place compared to other role players. He just has the CJ problem and that't his style of offense just won't draw whistles and generate critical points from the line



that's all true, and that has value as well as offering some hope for more upside. But right now, and FT Rate is part of this, he's at 3rd-4th-option/role-player/6th-man level by impact and temperament.
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I'm merely pointing out that TS% isn't a good judge whether a guy is a "shooter" or not.
 
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