Hypothetically (looking at NBADraftRoom's mock), Castle at 5 and then Williams at 7. Yes, actually I think Castle probably is worth giving up Ant (irrespective of Ant's skill level compared to the rest of our team). The salary savings and the still-uncertain-future of Jaden Ivey are just fringe benefits. I don't deny that there might be better deals available for him, and I get that my opinions are certainly in the minority, but I'm ready to move on.
Wow. I think we should definitely trade Ant for #5 if that's the case. I don't think we should trade him for cap relief, but getting a #5 out of him and the opportunity to turn that into a big athlete seems tough to pass up. *Edit* But maybe this draft is just all time bad and there is nobody good? I'm no draft expert. It just seems like historically you could get a much better player than Ant at #5 almost any draft.
I don't understand the pressing need to trade away a 24yr old guard averaging 23 ppg on good effeciency with a reasonable contract. There are far more contracts on this roster who make much less sense for a rebuild (Grant/Thybulle/Brogdon/etc). Trading our young guard and best player for a third lottery pick in the shittiest draft in decades makes very little sense to me, especially if we're keeping the other old dudes with worse contracts still on the roster. This is the type of head scratching directionless move that Cronin is famous for.
Which is completely fine. And honestly, I would be thrilled to see Ant traded for something better than the package discussed. Have you given an indication in this trade ideas thread as to what you believe would be reasonable value for him? (I'm admittedly too lazy to look)
no, it's not worth it to move up just 2 slots in this particular draft. Other drafts...maybe, depending on the salary coming back and I think it's debatable saying Ant is Portland's best player. Grant-Ayton-Brogdon are all at about the same level offensively and aren't as big of sieves on defense
No. I would trade Ant for an established similar caliber talent at a position that makes sense. Guys like Franz Wagner, Okongwu, DeAndre Hunter, Kuminga, etc make sense to me. The #5 pick in this draft ain't it. I also am hesitant to trade him without getting a more definitive idea of Scoot/Shae being the future. We don't know that yet.
I've always been one of the few big Ant supporters here but saying on a 25 million contract he is worth more than #5 is nuts to me. I'm all for keeping Ant if we can't get good value, but happy to move on if we can take a swing for something better like we could at #5.
25 mil is less than 20% of the salary cap. It will be even better with the anticipated spike in the coming years. After this upcoming free agency, he might end up around the 70th highest paid player in the league. Yes, that is a reasonable contract for his production.
I'm all for keeping Ant if we don't get good return, yes Id try to trade away Brogdon or Grant first. But saying Ant is our best player while possibly true just doesn't matter to me. This franchise doesn't have a single above average starter, and Ant (like Dame/CJ) with bad D is difficult to build a roster around so I'm all for moving on if we can get a nice asset. If we needed to win next season then perhaps Ant scoring would be a real need. But the Blazers are so far away from that mattering that Ants immediate contributions just aren't that relevant to the Blazers long term.
I certainly also would like to see the other vets dealt as well. As it stands presently, however, Ant is the one player whose presence on the roster seems to conflict with the desire to pursue/develop a future superstar (given the hopes for Scoot/Sharpe). Of course, after this draft the same might be able to be said of Grant, but even so he still seems more versatile/well-rounded than Ant.
None of us know what #5 will be worth as we don't know who will be available there nor how well they will develop. Sure you can project, doesn't mean your right. I don't see why Scoot/Sharpe development or lack of it matter much with keeping Ant. We have a massive hole of talent all over this roster so keeping or sending our Ant shouldnt depend on those guys. Either Ant is worth more than the asset we could acquire and we don't do a trade, or he's worth less and we should do it.
I would tend to agree with this stance (not surprising, given that we have already stipulated that @illmatic99 and I differ vastly in terms of perception of Ant's value)
Yes I think it's a reasonable contract, and I think Ant does have value. But I think the #5 pick is on a much much better contract, a great contract, as well as having more upside. I'd greatly prefer #5.
Again, I'm still in favor of trading him. And honestly, I think he'd be more likely to generate a decent return. Though I doubt the Pistons want him back, so we'd probably have to find a different trade partner But really, the 2 extra years on Grant's contract don't bother me.
