Game Thread Game #49 - BLAZERS @ ROCKETS - JANUARY 28, 2022 - FRIDAY - 5:00 PM (PDT) ROOT SPORTS

Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Register Log in

Do you want the Blazers to trade for Christian Wood?

  • Yes

    Votes: 7 25.9%

  • No

    Votes: 8 29.6%

  • Not if we have to trade Simons

    Votes: 1 3.7%

  • Not if we have to trade Little

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Not if we have to trade Simons or Little

    Votes: 11 40.7%
  • Total voters
    27
illmatic99 said:
yup, this is where i am. Ant at 2, Dame at 1. Defenders/Shooters at 3/4/5
Click to expand...
Defensive holes at the 1 and the 2 just doesn't work especially when both guys are best with the ball in there hands on O. Have the last 7 seasons taught us nothing?
 
OneSport3 said:
Totally agree. People say that you can’t have Dame/Ant because Dame/CJ doesn’t work. I think Ant is more complimentary to Dame than CJ is. Ant is a great catch-and-shooter. He’s a more willing playmaker. He’s not a ball stopper like CJ. His defense is still a weakness but has shown improvement. If this was a static situation where this is his ceiling, then trading him would be considered. But this is not his ceiling.

He’s only 22 years old. His emergence is like getting a top 3 lottery pick. You don’t trade top 3 lottery picks.
Click to expand...
people devoid of common sense these days.
 
DUB said:
Looking at Ant through an Ant lens, not a Trail Blazer lens; Ant is ready for his own team now. Not coming of the bench as a microwave scorer, not playing second fiddle to Dame. Run. His. Own. Team. Now!

If CJ is traded, and Dame is willing to take a back seat, and hand the keys to Ant; then Ant should stay, otherwise he’s better off leaving.

The Trail Blazers have a very tough, very good decision to make.
Click to expand...

Dame at the 1.

Ant needs to prove himself beyond a month.

It's really simple.
 
OneSport3 said:
Totally agree. People say that you can’t have Dame/Ant because Dame/CJ doesn’t work. I think Ant is more complimentary to Dame than CJ is. Ant is a great catch-and-shooter. He’s a more willing playmaker. He’s not a ball stopper like CJ. His defense is still a weakness but has shown improvement. If this was a static situation where this is his ceiling, then trading him would be considered. But this is not his ceiling.

He’s only 22 years old. His emergence is like getting a top 3 lottery pick. You don’t trade top 3 lottery picks.
Click to expand...
I agree with this. Ant right now looks like he can run an offense. A Dame/Ant pair you get the student learning from the master and someone to hand the keys off to in the future. There is potential to always have a legit top point guard for the next decade.
 
riverman said:
you're still starting an undersized backcourt....almost exactly like Dame and CJ or even Dame and Norm.....Ant isn't any bigger. I'm trading any guard but Dame for an upgrade at a position of need..and length...if you keep Ant and Dame starting you better have a tall defensive minded SF
Click to expand...

I'm not hung up on the size in the backcourt. We have four small guards right now. You're going to trade two of them -- so you'll be down to two -- and ideally get better at 3-5 and maybe your guard depth.
 
PCmor7 said:
I'm not hung up on the size in the backcourt. We have four small guards right now. You're going to trade two of them -- so you'll be down to two -- and ideally get better at 3-5 and maybe your guard depth.
Click to expand...
I'm not hung up on back court size either. I'm hung up on the fact that both Dame and Ant are not solid defenders and we've seen what a mess that is and that both of them function at their highest level with the ball in their hands facilitating the offense.
 
blazerkor said:
Defensive holes at the 1 and the 2 just doesn't work especially when both guys are best with the ball in there hands on O. Have the last 7 seasons taught us nothing?
Click to expand...

Ant hasn't looked like a defensive hole to me. The other thing is you have a more efficient scoring backcourt with Dame and Ant than Dame and CJ or Dame and Norman. That makes a difference. 1. You can trade off a little defense because you are getting even more on the offensive end. 2. Better offensive possessions lead to more buckets which lead to a set defense on the other end of the floor.
 
blazerkor said:
I'm not hung up on back court size either. I'm hung up on the fact that both Dame and Ant are not solid defenders and we've seen what a mess that is and that both of them function at their highest level with the ball in their hands facilitating the offense.
Click to expand...

Addressed this above.
 
I'll throw one other thing into the equation: The previous seven years we had a coach that didn't care a lick about what this team did on defense. That might have had a little something to do with why our defense looked bad. Maybe even had more to do with it than two 6-3 guards.
 
blazerkor said:
If we can get a haul for him that fits better with Dame, which I think we definitely can... we should trade him and trade him now.
Click to expand...

Dame is 32 bro lol.. why would u trade a kid that’s 22 to keep an old dude? That doesn’t make sense man.
 
blazerkor said:
I'm not hung up on back court size either. I'm hung up on the fact that both Dame and Ant are not solid defenders and we've seen what a mess that is and that both of them function at their highest level with the ball in their hands facilitating the offense.
Click to expand...
Ant is only 22 years old. You think that this is his ceiling? You don’t think he’ll be able to make any defensive improvements? He’s already shown defensive improvement from earlier this season. He has a defensive-minded coach that will teach him defense. This is his first time getting consistent, meaningful minutes.

CJ is 31 years old. He’s at his ceiling. He’s not going to make any defensive improvements.

Comparing Ant to CJ is like comparing Ant’s Chapter 1 to CJ’s Chapter 10.
 
Last edited:
AldoTrapani said:
Dame is 32 bro lol.. why would u trade a kid that’s 22 to keep an old dude? That doesn’t make sense man.
Click to expand...
Old dude has been playing like a top 6 player in the league while dealing with an injury. Old dudes like LeBron, CP3, KD, DeRozan and more are tearing this league up. So yeah, I think the old dude if given the actual help he deserves, help that Ant could be a big part of getting, is our best chance to win a chip in the next half of a decade.

I get it if you're scared and want to start over with very small expectations and hope for unseen possibilities but Dame has shown he can dominate this league. I expect him to be the best he's ever been next season and to continue like that for a couple more seasons before making a slow decline for another three seasons. I don't think you believe in Dame like that and that's fine. You bet on an unproven asset, I'll bet that the proven one can get back to and exceed what he's already shown.
 
OneSport3 said:
Ant is only 22 years old. You think that this is his ceiling? You don’t think he’ll be able to make any defensive improvements? He’s already shown defensive improvement from earlier this season. He has a defensive-minded coach that will teach him defense. This is his first time getting consistent, meaningful minutes.

CJ is 31 years old. He’s at his ceiling. He’s not going to make any defensive improvements.

Comparing Ant to CJ is like comparing Ant’s Chapter 1 to CJ’s Chapter 10.
Click to expand...
He's a small guard who hasn't shown a proclivity to be the kind of dominant defender that Dame needs next to him. Don't get it twisted Dame doesn't just need someone in the defensive back court with him that's a little better than CJ fucking McCollum, he needs a defensive killer back there. I don't think that's Ant. Ant is also incredibly gifted with the ball in his hands... yeah he can shoot spot up jumpers but he's far more valuable as a facilitator for himself and others.

I'm not saying trade Ant for any small value we can get for him so we don't have to pay him like I am about CJ but if there is big value there and I think there is, then take the big value that fits better with Dame.
 
blazerkor said:
He's a small guard who hasn't shown a proclivity to be the kind of dominant defender that Dame needs next to him. Don't get it twisted Dame doesn't just need someone in the defensive back court with him that's a little better than CJ fucking McCollum, he needs a defensive killer back there. I don't think that's Ant. Ant is also incredibly gifted with the ball in his hands... yeah he can shoot spot up jumpers but he's far more valuable as a facilitator for himself and others.

I'm not saying trade Ant for any small value we can get for him so we don't have to pay him like I am about CJ but if there is big value there and I think there is, then take the big value that fits better with Dame.
Click to expand...
I think he’s shown some proclivity to defensive acumen.

 
Interesting stat about CJ: since October, he hasn’t averaged more than 20 points per game. This month he’s also averaging just below 16 shots per game, a season low, but also having his most efficient month. Just for reference he hasn’t averaged below 17.8 shots in any season he’s been a starter. All this with Dame out. Seems like Billups has found a way to get the best out of him (I’m gonna chalk his early season struggles up to the stress he had off the court, he deserves the benefit of the doubt on that)

He’s also defending better. His value is up. It feels like it’s now or never as far as a trade is concerned. So unless Simmons sticks in Philly beyond the deadline, if CJ doesn’t get traded now I don’t think he ever will.
 
OneSport3 said:
I think he’s shown some proclivity to defensive acumen.

Click to expand...

I've seen this posted but I've also seen Ant constantly out of position and terrible at closing out on jump shooters which might be able to be fixed but what else I've seen is Ant is a terrible one on one defender... that's indicative of his potential. DLo is the most recent example but there are a tone of them. Ant is in his fourth year in the league and while some weird metric might say that he does well getting through screens DLo and a bunch of other guys break him off at will without a screen and do it all of the time. If you disagree with that you haven't been watching the games.
 
Scalma said:
Interesting stat about CJ: since October, he hasn’t averaged more than 20 points per game. This month he’s also averaging just below 16 shots per game, a season low, but also having his most efficient month. Just for reference he hasn’t averaged below 17.8 shots in any season he’s been a starter. All this with Dame out. Seems like Billups has found a way to get the best out of him (I’m gonna chalk his early season struggles up to the stress he had off the court, he deserves the benefit of the doubt on that)

He’s also defending better. His value is up. It feels like it’s now or never as far as a trade is concerned. So unless Simmons sticks in Philly beyond the deadline, if CJ doesn’t get traded now I don’t think he ever will.
Click to expand...
Send a memo to all of the front offices in the league and twenty to Morey. CJ can play the game the right way and can be a serious contributor to winning basketball, he's just the worst fit possible next to Dame. Let's get him out of here and get back something that makes sense.
 
Even with Lillard and CJ in previous seasons Blazers played better when ball was moving.
With Ant on the floor ball is swimming naturally. Then CJ and Powell come in and stop it.

Trade CJ and Powell. Next season let's play Ant and Dame. A year is enough to see how consistent Ant is. If he is great, next season teams will have to split attention between him and Dame and Dame will go back to his 50 points performances.
Then, if Any is legit, trade Dame at his peak and build around Ant.

For now, I would just trade those two Melos we got.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Back
Top