I was saying this leading up to the season start as well. Ant’s $25m/yr didn’t look nearly as bad after the Herro and Poole extensions. Hell, Lavine was given the max, and he’s looked terrible so far. How many of us are willing to do a trade with the Bulls right now where Ant and Lavine switch teams? Cheaper than Herro, Pool and Lavine. Younger and has more potential than Brunson. We got the guy with the best deal in the bunch.
While I'm open to trading anyone, based on the little I truly know about him Ant seems the sort you build a roster around. He's an efficient attacking scorer with good size and plus athleticism just this side of Ja. The broad strokes of undervaluing Ant in the OP seem odd as many including me saw what he was doing last season at 22. Dude is (& has been) a stud. He's a few things to work on for sure and he's still physically maturing but his best days are ahead. If they're to trade him, it should be for a king's ransom. STOMP
Luka can go as a Forward, but I think Fox is pretty close to a lock with what he and the Kings have done. I'd also put Ant Edwards as the leader in the mix for the last spot, he's a beast. STOMP
I doubt Ant would get the nod from the coaches unless there are injuries to a few guards. There seems to be more of a push for Grant when I listen to NBA radio/tv programs. And I think the coaches selecting two Blazers is too much of a long shot unless it is Dame
both in terms of raw stats and efficiency (which is frankly insane given the expectations heaped onto Edwards at the start of this season by everyone). we also have more wins.
Sure it could be argued though I'd give Edwards the nod at this point. Most of their stats are pretty close except Rebounds & Steals where Edwards gets close to twice as many. STOMP
I mean, all that being said, I don't think Anfernee makes it. But I think a lot of times we see a player once, or see highlights or stat sheet and it's a little bit of the grass is greener situation. But when we watch every game of theirs, the nitpicking comes out.
And Simons has a higher PER, higher TS%, a lower TO% on similar usage, double the WS/48, a positive BPM, not the negative Edwards has, and over double VORP. I don't think I'd give someone the edge based on 2.6 rebounds and .7 SPG, personally.
a lot of competition in the west at guard. No need to look at guys like Curry, Doncic, Morant, Booker, or even Dame (assuming he stays healthy the rest of the way and plays well) there are some guys, who like Ant, are looking for their first appearance: **************************************************************** ***************************************************************** ********************************************************************* ************************************************************************* Simons would have an advantage over Edwards but not over SGA & Fox. Simons vs Bane is closer, but Bane having an advantage in rebounds & assists while being on a better team might tip the scales in his favor (unless Portland gets on a winning streak again and Ant remains as hot as he's been the last week or so). And the problem with slotting Doncic as a forward is that the front court will be fairly crowded. Barring injuries, it seems safe to say that Jokic, Lebron and AD would be in. Lauri Markannen sure seems like a lock at this point. Sabonis is averaging 17-11-7 and is 3rd in assists for all front court players. If Paul George comes back, stays healthy, and plays well, he'd just about be a lock. And the Pelicans are 2nd in the west right now because of Zion and Ingram. That's 8 'deserving' front court players and 2 would have to be eliminated in order to make room for Doncic seems like it would take a rash of injuries for Ant to climb into the all-star game....or him averaging 30 points from now thru Feb. on scalding hot shooting
i think the discussion is getting slightly sidetracked. my intent with this thread was not about Ant being an all star this year. it was more about us potentially having to recalibrate his ceiling in the long run.
Your title suggests the thread is about Ant and his hot streak....there's nothing off the rails about allstar competition as it ties to the thread....if you have another intention why not express it in a post and let us know what you think
Is there a way to pull his numbers with and without Dame? I can do it manually but I really don't want to.
probably another sidetrack, and obviously we're dealing with a sample-size issue... but is it safe to say at this point that Portland is quite a bit better off with Dame/Ant than Dame/CJ? I'd vote yes, definitely
you use to be able to do that at BBREF before they implemented a paywall. Maybe somewhere at NBA.com? but I'm not sure what that would reveal. If Dame isn't there taking possessions away from Simons, it would increase Ant's possessions. That's how it worked with CJ. And if Dame plays without Ant, then Dame's numbers would increase. Again, that's how it worked with CJ. Those two guys are the primary ball-handlers so if one is out the other will be handling the ball more That sure didn't mean that Portland should have traded Dame and kept CJ (yeah, I may be jumping ahead of you there and you may not even be trying to head that direction...again)
https://www.rotowire.com/basketball/court-on-off.php?team=POR One random site I found, looks like per 36, Simons averages close to 7 points more w/o Lillard, 2 more assists, a 9% higher usage.