If I was Dame, I'd really push Sharpe to join him to train. In fact, it would be borderline insane not to.
What? Come on Ant is starting as soon as he comes back unless he's out for the season and we miss the playoffs. That said, if Sharpe were to absolutely explode I'd love to trade Ant for Bridges from Brooklyn in the summer. Dame/Keon Sharpe/Thybulle/Little Bridges/Little/Reddish Grant/Watford/Walker Nurk/Eubanks + up to TWO draft picks in this years draft is a pretty sweet lineup.
Sorry but very unrealistic trade, Bridges is worth a LOT, LOT more than Ant, Nets would hang up the phone after laughing their arses off
And at that point, I’d rather focus my effort on drafting the two best wings I can in the draft. Once we see what we have in them and can be confident that they can fit with Sharpe as a core on this team, I have no problem unprotecting 2025’s 1st to have more assets to trade with Ant for an upgrade elsewhere.
Yup I’m kinda over that as well and there’s no C I’m interested in this draft. Secure two SFs/PFs this draft to develop with Sharpe seems to be the best possibility of building a sustainable team post-Dame. One young C I would be interested in is Mark Williams. If Sharpe shows he can start anytime next year, I’d be interested in Simons to CHA for Williams and 1 or maybe 2 1sts. Williams looks like a real player.
One advantage in obtaining 2nd round draft picks is for drafting a center. There are usually some there and you are not giving much up to "kick the tires".
I dunno, if I was starting a brand new young team that already had Ben Simmons, I'd strongly consider going for a two years younger, VASTLY BETTER offensive player in Ant. Maybe they could ask for a first, but I'm not 100% I'd trade Sharpe straight across for Bridges so the offer Freshtown proposes is horrific for us. Bridges is a totally find 3-D wing who's top tier in defense and decent on offense. Simons is 2 years younger and already Elite when he's on as a scorer. Obviously Ant sucks at defense and that may or may not be correctable, he's very young and defense tends to come with age. Point is, I don't think the value is nearly the gulf many are saying. Perhaps better put, Ant as a center piece in a trade for Bridges. Personally I wouldn't go higher than Ant and a 1st for Bridges and again, only assuming Sharpe puts it together while Ant is out to a degree I'm certain he's ready to be a starter on a team going for a chip.
I think you're in the minority of Blazer fans. I think most Blazer fans would deal Ant + FRP for Bridges in a heartbeat, regardless of whether Sharpe shows out or not.
Why trade Ant and a first round pick for Bridges when we can find someone like him in the draft. Rayan Rupert will be that guy in a few year. Anthony Black is a great defender who can pass really well and rebound really well. His 3 point shooting percentage isn’t good but his form is decent enough that it give me hope. We all have seen what happen when we trade a first round pick for a role player, it never work out
I realize it's a pretty bold (perhaps even strange) prediction, but I think there are a number of things coalescing around Sharpe taking the starting 2 guard spot away from Ant: He's no worse a defender than Ant, and is arguably better given his size. Given that he's 4 years younger, he seems to have a lot more upside. Ant came up in a time where his role model was the defensive sieve of CJ, and he seems to be setting a similar template for Sharpe. "Defense is for role players. Starting 2 guards are here to shoot," seems to be the unwritten rule. I don't want the impressionable Sharpe to model his defensive game around Ant. If we're still in the playoff mix, it'll be because Sharpe has filled in for Ant's scoring role. If we're not in the playoff mix, what's the point in rushing Ant back? Dame's teams generally look better with a bigger guard paired with him in the back court. He's less exposed defensively. He's got a bigger target to pass to. It's why Wes Matthews was so valuable to us. But that bigger guard has to shoot, which Sharpe can do. Dame handles the ball more and the ball just moves more without a CJ/Ant-type looking to create for themselves. Sharpe isn't a great rebounder, but he's nearly twice the rebounder Ant is. (7.3 vs 4.4TRB%). With Harte gone that matters. Dame is on a scoring tear right now, averaging 36ppg in Feb. Grant is giving us 21ppg. We don't need Sharpe to replace all of Ant's scoring if he can bring more defense and rebounding and play a role that fits our team better. Only 5 other teams in the league feature three guys scoring 20+ppg, and only 3 of them are good (GS, Pels, Heat), so it's not like it's a requirement to have that much productivity in a third scorer. I really feel like a rangy starting lineup of Dame/Sharpe/Matisse/Grant/Nurk is going to be noticeably better on defense, without really giving up that much offensively. Sharpe has never started a game next to Dame. His 5 starts came early in the season playing off Ant. Sharpe's productivity so far has come off a mishmash bench of youngsters and mediocrity. He wasn't the Featured Bench Scorer, because Ant or Dame stil carried the offense when he came in. There are certain guys who shine more in a structured role surrounded by vets who know what they're doing. (Batum was one of those guys, if you remember the very forgettable Summer League he had as a rook vs how he played as an immediate starter.) I feel like Sharpe is one of those guys. The organization wants to sell tickets. It isn't going to do that with a deep playoff run because we just aren't getting out of the first round. Ant hitting threes is a less marketable version of Dame hitting longer threes. But Sharpe's freakish athleticism and dunking ability is a highlight-of-the-night waiting to happen. He's a reason (besides Dame) for casual fans to watch Blazers basketball. Sharpe is more the future of this franchise than Ant. He's 4 years younger, and is much, much further along than Ant was at his age.
Portland might have been able to get Bridges at the trade deadline for Ant +??? (no Sharpe). I would have started with Ant, the NYK's 1st, a future 1st from us and anyone anyone else not named Dame/Grant/Sharpe. But now, Bridges will be the main guy in BRK and his stats and production are going to climb through the roof. In 3 games, he is already putting up 25/6.3/3/1.3/1 on 54/57/87 shooting. Those are numbers Ant only dreams about and that doesn't include defense that is off the charts better.
