As I was mentioning in the game thread... this is not normal. Guys who aren't all stars don't do this, and is reminiscent of the stuff Dame/Beal/Steph/Booker/etc do. And he seemingly does it once a week. Teams cannot cover him with one defender. Teams cannot drop the big against him. We have 2 guys who need a ton of defensive attention from 25-30' away from the hoop. Perhaps we should not be so carelessly throwing him in trade ideas and potentially consider him a major building block in this iteration of the roster construction. We also need to stop comparing him to CJ. He has surpassed CJ already in terms of pure scoring ability and efficiency and is only 23 yrs old. He's currently second in the league in 3pts made and per game behind Curry. Only 3 players average more than 4 made threes per game: Curry (5.2!), Ant (4.2), and Mitchell (4.0). Just elite shooting and scoring ability. Love watching him get on these hot streaks.
Let me start off by saying that what Ant did last night and had done in other games is very rare and incredible to watch! I asked this in the game-thread because the term All-Star is getting brought up (as it was with CJ). Do you think Ant will make the all-star team this year? If not, why do you think the other coaches don't see him as an All-Star?
Too much competition in the west for him to be an all star this yr, but he's at that level. I just think his ceiling is higher than we all were anticipating after he burst onto the scene last winter. I would put him closer to guys like SGA/Beal/Booker/Klay when it's all said and done than the guys we were comparing him to earlier like Brunson/Sexton/Clarkson/etc.
I think Simons might take Damians spot (as a token Blazer rep) since Damian might miss too many games to qualify. Tho I know that necessarily doesn't mean anything (# of games).
I think you listed the reason I don't think he's an All-Star: He's not a top 5-6 gaurd in the West. I'm struggling to see him becoming that anytime soon, unless he becomes more consistent. Like I said about CJ, that doesn't mean he's a bad player, at all! Just not an All-Star.
This is a great point. Other guards getting injured could obviously create a path for him to back-in to the All-Star Game.
Also, Simons is currently the 57th highest paid player in the league this yr. There are not 56 players better than him right now. For all the griping I read about his contract, it might turn out to be a steal.
I think Grant has a better chance. As for guards, locks are Booker, Curry, Luka, Ja, and probably SGA. That leaves one spot for Ant, Fox, Bane, or Dame. Team record will be a factor. SGA doesn’t have a great team record but his play has transcended that, I think. As for frontcourt, locks are Jokic, Zion, AD, and probably LeBron despite Lakers bad record so far. So there are two spots open and Grant could get one of them. He’s one of the best shooters in the NBA but his lack of rebounding may hold him back.
40 million dollars cheaper than what poole got in GS. And 30 million cheaper than Herro. I like Ant better than both of those guys.
Tough to make the AST as a guard these days. Luka and Steph are 100 certain. Ja can't be far behind in pure popularity. Booger is up there too. The SGA is just sick but plays for the worst organization. Then comes Ant and Dame.
I wouldn't piss on him for backing in, not at all. My comment was more pointing out that Ant is a ways away from being a top 5 guard in the West. Nothing wrong with that either.
Ant had an incredible game last night....I'm glad to see him aggressive in the first half of the game...that had been missing. He could absolutely be an allstar this season if he consistently plays like an impact player. He shuts me up whenever I start to doubt him, that's for sure. I still want to see him have games like that playing next to Dame as well as on his own. Ant Grant duo is damned good...good enough for both to have a shot at the allstar game this year. Name recognition though sadly counts in voting so Dame will probably cancel Ant's chance at an allstar game this season..
I would be curious to see yours (or anyones) top 50. I think Ant being in that range is reasonable. I'm guessing the majority of teams that would not trade either of their top 2 players for Ant. Boston, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Brooklyn, Philly, Toronto, Miami, Chicago, Denver, Phoenix, NOP, Memphis?, Sacramento, Clippers, Warriors, Minnesota, OKC, and Lakers... That's just a guess off the top of my head.
I think a good comparison for Ant might be Jason Terry for the Mavs. Not well-rounded enough to be an All-Star* but just can go supernova at the right times. Now I'm waiting for him to do it when playing alongside Dame. * illustration: there's a stat site that I've been using for over a decade, that hasn't changed, that uses a stat called "Tendex" that is a pre-PER PER kind of stat, and he also keeps track of players who have the HIGHEST Tendex if you take away points, and players whose Tendex takes the biggest hit if you don't count points. And Ant is habitually near the top of the latter:
Both Dame and Ant had around 30 in the game against Denver. (Grant with 21) If all three are averaging over 20 we will be just fine.
Simons is infinitely better as a point guard. To me, it seems obvious that we need to make a decision. Simons is the future of the team. So is Sharpe.
It’s possible that if we’re in contention by the AS break and Dame hasn’t played enough games, Ant will be the Portland selection, which I’m sure Dame would totally be fine with. It’s going to come down to Ant’s sheer ability to score the ball vs Grant’s efficiency for that AS nod I think.
