Simons would be great if he could play defense. Scoot would be great if he could shoot (and not turn the ball over). Shae would be great if he could play defense and stay healthy. All have barriers to greatness.
All can do the things you suggest. Only one has shown a consistent refusal to do what you suggest for over half a decade.
I said nothing about the "potential" of the three in question, but I get why you'd want to move the goal-posts away from production. Ayton at age 21 had a higher "potential" than Dame at 25. That doesn't mean he had a higher probability of being the better player.
Well put. Very much agree! I think we could add even more barriers to all three as well. To think any of them are clearly the future is hopeful at best.
I was literally talking about their room fir growth over the last several pages. That's what potential is. Both Scoot and Sharpe have more potential (room for growth) than Ant. Ant is not going to be a good enough defender to start for any healthy contender. Scoot and Sharpe both have the potential to become those kinds of players. If they aren't better than Simons by their 7th season I'll want to move off of them as well. No goalposts have been moved by me, though I can see why you'd like to convince yourself they have.
Then why not apply your logic consistently and trade them all? PS - I'm not suggesting that's a good idea.
This is like saying that I "refuse" to dunk. Playing defense is not simply effort. Anfernee is not a lazy player.
He's plenty athletic enough to play quality defense. He's refusing to get better at defense. So no. I completely disagree with you. Defense is largely effort. He's not putting effort into being a good defender. That's not acceptable.
Once again, you're pretending these players are the same. They are not, and I'm not going to waste time explaining the difference to you. That's your problem, and once again, that's fine with me.
I'm not sure what majority weight you're referring to. Jesus, I can't believe I have to explain this again. We have seen Ant for 6 seasons and he's never shown that he can be the pillar to a quality team. He's been given the reigns and isn't good enough and doesn't make his teammates better. And he hasn't improved much defensively in 6 seasons. Neither Scoot or Sharpe have had that opportunity. If they are where Ant is in another 4 or 5 seasons and the team is in a similar situation I'll likely want to move off of them at that point as well.
For what it's worth I think that's exactly what you have to do when you rebuild... because when you try to balance keeping solid aka mediocre starters with your rebuild, you're actually hindering your ability to figure out which guys your going to build around and your ability to acquire more top end talent through the draft. So I see a major flaw with not putting all of the weight of a franchise on potential during a rebuild.
I get your whole tank philosophy in order to get better. I don't like it but I think it is a valid opinion. And I agree that Ant is not exactly the type of player who makes his teammates better, shooters rarely are. They make the team better, but not necessarily their teammates. But this whole Ant was given the reigns and failed bullshit is ridiculous. The reigns to what? A big ass tank? Look at the goal of the team since Ant has been a starter. Look how many teammates he has had in the last 2 1/2 years. It takes a lot to win in this league. There are teams with multiple stars that still barely make the playoffs. (i.e the Lakers) No one is saying that Ant is a star, but getting rid of him because he isn't........ has a lot of holes.
There's an element of effort to everything, but you also need to have a certain kind of court awareness. There are middling athletes who are great defenders. Look at Draymond - he's about average athleticism. According to you, Vince Carter could have been the greatest defender ever, he just didn't want to. So disagree with me all you like, you're wrong.
He was the ball dominant player. He has to make his teammates better. If you're 6ft 2 and can't make teammates better or play good defense you're not even a starter in this league. I'm not saying he failed to win. He failed to do what we need a starting PG to do if we want to compete. And he certainly can't be our starting 2 if we intend to compete. And he's not going to get much better. We know that. That's a good thing. So now we can stop wasting time on him. And I'm not saying to get rid of him because he's not a star. I'm saying get rid of him (trade him for the best draft capital possible) because he doesn't have the potential to be a quality starter on a competing team in Portland.
21-22 defensive rating: Jusuf Nurkić 112 Robert Covington 113 Justise Winslow 114 Dennis Smith Jr. 114 Larry Nance Jr. 115 Drew Eubanks 116 Trendon Watford 116 Nassir Little 116 Josh Hart 117 Keon Johnson 118 CJ McCollum 119 Norman Powell 119 Tony Snell 120 Damian Lillard 120 Ben McLemore 120 Anfernee Simons 121 21-22 DBPM: Robert Covington 1.6 Dennis Smith Jr. 1.2 Larry Nance Jr. 0.6 Jusuf Nurkić 0.2 Trendon Watford -0.4 Nassir Little -0.6 Justise Winslow -0.7 Tony Snell -1.0 Josh Hart -1.0 Norman Powell -1.6 CJ McCollum -1.7 Drew Eubanks -2.3 Ben McLemore -2.5 Keon Johnson -2.5 Damian Lillard -2.7 Anfernee Simons -2.7 2022-23 defensive rating: Jusuf Nurkić 114 Drew Eubanks 115 Matisse Thybulle 116 Justise Winslow 118 Josh Hart 118 Keon Johnson 119 Cam Reddish 119 Trendon Watford 119 Kevin Knox 120 Jabari Walker 120 Nassir Little 120 Jerami Grant 120 Shaedon Sharpe 121 Damian Lillard 121 Anfernee Simons 123 2022-23 DBPM: Matisse Thybulle 1.1 Drew Eubanks 0.9 Josh Hart 0.7 Jusuf Nurkić 0.7 Justise Winslow 0.6 Trendon Watford -0.4 Damian Lillard -1.2 Jerami Grant -1.4 Nassir Little -1.4 Cam Reddish -1.4 Keon Johnson -1.6 Shaedon Sharpe -2.0 Jabari Walker -2.1 Anfernee Simons -2.5 Kevin Knox -2.7 2023-24 defensive rating: Matisse Thybulle 114 Deandre Ayton 114 Jabari Walker 116 Dalano Banton 117 Duop Reath 117 Toumani Camara 117 Kris Murray 118 Shaedon Sharpe 119 Rayan Rupert 120 Rayan Rupert 120 Malcolm Brogdon 120 Scoot Henderson 120 Jerami Grant 120 Anfernee Simons 121 2023-24 DBPM: Matisse Thybulle 3.4 Toumani Camara 0.0 Deandre Ayton -0.2 Kris Murray -0.2 Justin Minaya -0.5 Duop Reath -0.7 Malcolm Brogdon -0.7 Jabari Walker -0.9 Shaedon Sharpe -0.9 Dalano Banton -0.9 Jerami Grant -1.1 Rayan Rupert -1.2 Scoot Henderson -2.3 Anfernee Simons -2.5 I might be looking at a trend
No that's not what that means at all. It's unacceptable to be a bad defender if you're an athletic player. That can't be acceptable if we want to compete.
