If you could only chose one to keep; Dame or Ant

Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Register Log in

Choose

  • Dame

    Votes: 37 66.1%

  • Ant

    Votes: 19 33.9%
  • Total voters
    56
I think it actually does come down to this. Ant is at his most valuable on offense with the ball in his hands... the same is true for Dame. While Ant does have the potential to get better defensively he doesn't have the natural instincts of a defensive stopper and when you have a one way superstar like Dame he needs a defensive stopper next to him. So I actually think you do have to choose or suffer what we've been suffering for the last seven seasons even if Ant is a little better fit... he's not the right fit next to Dame.

So for me and you're not wrong if you pick the other guy, I pick trying to win it all starting next season. Trade Ant for every bit of value you can squeeze out of him and get Dame a piece or pieces that truly complement him and give us a chance to contend right away.

There's sentimentality to my decision because I love Dame and have a lot more years invested in him. If I was a cold blooded GM I would definitely trade Dame for a package of picks and young talent that has the best chance of complimenting Ant and Nas. I'd also trade away every other significant piece of this roster (CJ, Norm, RoCo, Larry and Nurk) for young prospects and picks. That would allow me to sell ownership on a championship window that lasts between 2027 and 2032 instead of having to prove to them I can win big next season.

But I want it now... or at least I want a shot at it starting next season. So I go with Dame and trading everything we have to in order to put other all star talent around him to start contending ASAP.
 
You choose Dame.

Reasons: He's a top 10-15 player in the league. We don't just get guys like that.

He's been loyal to us. Long contracts with no opt outs or player options. Very rare.

He's about to come back from an injury that until this year he still played like a top 10-15 player and carried us when Neil and co. dropped the ball. There's a very high likelihood he comes back at or BETTER THAN pre injury.

He's done this for years. Ant has done it a month.

It's REALLY, REALLY simple. You don't replace your best employee with the "new guy" because he had one month of great production. You take calculated risks. This would just be a dumb risk. A very bad, no good risk.

Honestly, I'm shocked people have given up on Dame twice this season after all he's done. So very disappointed.
 
giphy.gif
 
You trade Dame, and our franchise will never be able to keep a meaningful star here in his prime again. Dame has a good 5-year stretch of prime basketball ahead. Guys like Nash, Kidd, and CP3 all were very good until at least 35. You can’t just find players that have natural leadership abilities. Just build around him to hide your leader’s weaknesses.

Anfernee is approaching 16ppg quicker than I would’ve ever thought at this point in the season though. If you think Dame and Ant won’t be any better than Dame and CJ, you just have to trade both. Any possible Ant S&T this summer has to be able to get us a star this summer to be worth it to me though. Simmons, Brown, Siakam. Any of them. But I’m happy keep Simons for the rest of the season to see how he looks under a full year of Chauncey and banking on Simons continuing his upticks in PPG and APG on similar shooting efficiency.
 
Mediocre Man said:
I would keep Ant. Not because he’s as good as Dame or 1/2 the leader Dame is, but because Dame is older, and the asset package you could get back for Dame would likely get us a young stud to pair with Ant going forward
Click to expand...
That would be tough but I suppose if you said you’d like to move in another direction but you will move him to wherever he wants, I would do it. I kept hearing Broussard saying Dame doesn’t seem to be in love with the idea of Philly like the rest of the media—is that because he’s loyal to Portland or is it that he just wouldn’t want to be in Philly? If it’s the former though, the idea of Simmons, Thybulle, and 2 1sts is something I keep warming up to.

If he wants to go to NY though…what do they have that we would even possibly want? Barrett as the centerpiece is not enough for me. Not interested in Randle. I’m just interested in just selling him to the highest bidder if he’s not interested in migrating there though.
 
This poll is quintessential Blazers fan haha.
 
You keep Dame, the question is though does Dame want to keep you?
 
Mediocre Man said:
I would keep Ant. Not because he’s as good as Dame or 1/2 the leader Dame is, but because Dame is older, and the asset package you could get back for Dame would likely get us a young stud to pair with Ant going forward
Click to expand...

This would be extremely tough but I think you’re right. I would present it like this, Dame we are in rebuild mode we don’t have what we need to make us a contender and understand you deserve better than having to be part of a rebuild so we are going to trade you.give us a list of destinations you’d like to go and we will do our best to get you to one of them. Thank you for all you’ve done for the franchise you will go down as the greatest blazer in franchise history! Go win a championship you deserve it
 
Fortunately, this isn't even remotely the choice the Blazers have to make. They have four smallish guards right now. They don't have to trade three of them.

If for some fantastical reason it came to this, you keep Dame, because he's earned it, you know what he is, as long as he wants to try to win here, you give him the chance. Ant wouldn't get you the return in trade but he still would net you something that should help the Blazers (just probably not as much as his presence itself would).
 
I have always been super strong Don't trade Lillard. And a couple months ago I was pretty down on Anf. (Do you see why I have been married four times?)
The changes in Anf's game have affected me in two ways. Of course it's improved my opinion of what Anf can do but it's also made me wonder if Lillard can ever really change and become what Billups wants. I think Anf is a better fit with Billups. And I think if Billups was able to improve Anf's playmaking so much, he can also improve his defense.
 
UKRAINEFAN said:
I have always been super strong Don't trade Lillard. And a couple months ago I was pretty down on Anf. (Do you see why I have been married four times?)
The changes in Anf's game have affected me in two ways. Of course it's improved my opinion of what Anf can do but it's also made me wonder if Lillard can ever really change and become what Billups wants. I think Anf is a better fit with Billups. And I think if Billups was able to improve Anf's playmaking so much, he can also improve his defense.
Click to expand...

if Billups is a bad fit with Dame there's a simple and obvious solution, and it sure as hell isn't trading Dame
 
Look at the roster right now. Would it improve more with Lillard replacing Anfernee Simons as a starter, or with Ben Simmons or Pascal Siakam replacing Robert Covington?

I don't understand the "Can't trade Dame" people, because they never say who we're trading him for, and if the team would be better or worse after the trade.

If we're thinking about Dame's feelings, wouldn't he be so happy making it out of the first round of the playoffs, maybe every season? The 76ers have made it past the first round 3 of the last 4 seasons. The Trail Blazers as we know have been bounced in the first round 4 of the last 5 seasons. To me, it's doing a favor to Lillard and his legacy to play on a better team, and even more so if it's in a big market. I'm scratching my head to figure how Lillard would be upset.
 
wizenheimer said:
if Billups is a bad fit with Dame there's a simple and obvious solution, and it sure as hell isn't trading Dame
Click to expand...
Huh. That made me think. And maybe it's weird but if I had to choose, I would keep Billups.
 
wizenheimer said:
if Billups is a bad fit with Dame there's a simple and obvious solution, and it sure as hell isn't trading Dame
Click to expand...
So Billups preach defense and ball movement. If Billups a bad fit for dame because he’s ball dominant and so bad on defense, then Lillard is the problem lol
 
Pinwheel1 said:
Thankfully we do not have to choose one or the other. They are 9 years apart in age. When Dame is ready to retire Ant will be in his prime.
For now, we get to enjoy both.
Click to expand...
So we can essentially have 5+ more years of Dame/CJ but now it’s Dame/Ant?
 
damianlillard said:
So Billups preach defense and ball movement. If Billups a bad fit for dame because he’s ball dominant and so bad on defense, then Lillard is the problem lol
Click to expand...

then, Billups would be a bad fit with Curry and Morant and Trae Young and Lamelo Ball and Donovan Mitchell and James Harden and Zach LaVine, among others, because they are also ball-dominant and poor at defense

if a coach doesn't have the coaching ability to adapt his coaching strategies to an elite player like Dame, he is a shitty coach...and he's the problem "lol"
 
Natebishop3 said:
So we can essentially have 5+ more years of Dame/CJ but now it’s Dame/Ant?
Click to expand...

I guess if you think CJ and Ant are identical players. I personally don't. The key is getting a 3rd player who would complete a 3 guard rotation, and a PF that
compliments everyone. (Including Nurk and Little) Blazer fans are too hung up on this 6'3" bullshit. Simons has length and excellent athletic ability. He gets better defensively every year. And he is a better PG than CJ.

Why trade him or Dame for a bigger guard who can't score as well? Just add a 3rd guard who can defend.
 
I think the biggest problem is getting rid of CJ and getting any type of decent return
 
Blazinaway said:
I think the biggest problem is getting rid of CJ and getting any type of decent return
Click to expand...
The biggest problem is if the GM doesn't even want to trade CJ. Or won't trade him until we get a "decent return" which could be never.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

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