Anfernee Simons trade destinations

There haven't been many guys like Ant that have won rings or had consistent success year after year.
Curry, obviously has. The difference is that Curry has more traits that make a PG successful. Plus, he has Draymond to facilitate, so Steph plays a lot of SG too.
Iverson got to the conference finals once or twice. But, I'd argue that he was more SG than PG with Aaron McKie and Eric Snow facilitating their offense. Plus, both of them were excellent defenders. Those Sixer teams were built 100% around AI and designed well. Plus, Larry Brown was a pretty good coach.
As far as Scoot's defense vs Ant's, I go by the tried and true eye test. If all someone can argue is comparing stats they either a) haven't played much basketball to know what's good or bad; or b) only can twist the numbers to make their argument. IMO, defensively, Scoot is already as good as Ant with a lot less experience and coaching. And he'll only get better because of his age and physical makeup.

 

Kyrie Irving, Jamal Murray, Jaylen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell? Two of those guys won rings as 2nd options. If you want to go back in years add Jason Terry.

 

Three of those guys are point guards. Do you think Simons is a point guard or is he like CJ?

Terry was a sixth man type. Just like Crawford.

Isn’t Mitchell a decent defender?

 

Simons averaged 5.8 assists per 36 last year as a SG. Lillard, at age 24 averaged 6.2 as the full time PG.

 

I know it's a thing to compare players at similar ages, but I think after a player has a couple of years experience it's more valid to compare players in the same seasons than same ages. Experience counts. This was Ant's 6th season, that was Dame's 3rd. After 3 seasons, Dame had appeared in 2 all-star games, (including the season you're pointing at) and had been named to the 3rd team all-NBA. Dame averaged those assists while leading a 51 win team (the season after 54 wins); Simos did it on a 21 win team. Dame did it on a top-4 Western Conference team; Ant did it on the worst team in the conference. Dame played in all 82 games in each of his 3 seasons

I mean, did you know, that Stephen Curry only averaged 5.3 assists his 3rd season!! Steve Nash only averaged 5.5 assists when he was 24, in his 3rd season!! SGA only averaged 5.5 when he was 24!!

Damian Lillard - Stephen Curry - Steve Nash - SGA - Anfernee Simons....one of those players is not like the other four

 

I would say the only guy you mentioned that compares to Ant is Terry. None of these guys pound the ball as much as him only to take the shot themself. Luka is the Mav's PG. Murray is not a chucker and is not a liability on defense. Terry was a sixth man, but was a me first type. Mitchell is not a PG. Brunson gets his offense in the flow of the offense. Thib's would never let anybody play like Ant does as a Knick.
Ant is not the 2nd option. He's 1a and 1b. He's not vocal like you need a point guard to be. He doesn't set the tone, he doesn't have a PG's instincts or mentality.
Ant is a lights out shooter, but he doesn't offer much else. You definitely cannot say he makes anyone around him better.
As good as Dame was here, we weren't going to be true contenders because of his style. Especially not with the teammates they put around him. Look what happened in Milwaukee when they replaced a guy like Holiday with Dame. I don't think it's a coincidence.

 

I'll just point out that while the Bucks won a championship with Jrue, the following 2 seasons they lost in the conference semi's and 1st round. So it wasn't like they were repeating their success with Jrue. And Giannis played in the playoffs in all three of those seasons...he didn't play this last season

 

This conversation that Ant is somehow Dame is absolutely absurd. What in the actual fuck is going on here?!?

Ant is a role player and Dame is a superstar. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

 

Yeah, once it got to this point I really didn't have anything more to say.

Anybody who thinks Ant and Dame are comparable isn't interested in reality.

 

I think Ant fits really well next two either KCP or Castle in a back court. KCP because Paolo is a point forward. Castle just because the two of them have very complementary skill sets.

I don't know if either of those teams have interest. I do think there has to be teams around the league that do, I just don't know by how much Joe overvalues Ant.

 

At this point, I think the Blazers are stuck with him - unless he can show that he's a net positive player. Going through rosters, I don't see any team that would want him. Especially considering how soft the trade market appears to be for better players in Trae, Garland, Herro, etc.

I was holding out hope that someone would be in love with his scoring ability, but it looks like that never materialized.

 

No one is saying Ant will take us to a ring. But Ant right now is put into the spot as our best player, due to how much less talent we have on our team. That's just how it is right now. If you put Ant on a championship team right now when he isn't the 1st option, he will do well imo..

And to your b point. People here are using stats to add more context to their "Ant sucks on defense", while in the same breath saying Scoot is better defender...I'm playing that game too and pointing out Scoots defensive stats is just as bad. Stats dont tell the whole store and definitely not these fault defensive stats I'm seeing here.

I bet you most of these people haven't even touched a basketball or know how to actually play basketball. I use to play weekly for many years and still play to this day.

You mentioned Scoot will get better, due to his age and physical makeup...that makes no sense to me at all. Did Ant get better as he got older? CJ? Dame? Dame got a little better, but not CJ. Scoot doesn't have the physical make ups to be a great defender. Ant is longer and lanky than Scoot, he has the make up to be a better defender. Only thing going for Scoot is he is a tank and strong, so won’t get pushed around if someone is trying to post him up. But being strong has nothing to do with having quick feet and staying in front of your defender.

So all in all, one big thing you left out, is defense comes down to mostly effort and pride! 90% of a great defensive players today is effort. So, if one comes into the NBA and doesn't show great defense from the jump, I wouldn't bank on them becoming a great defender, if you aren't showing the effort from day 1. That also comes down to coaching and etc, but one can improve from poor defender to a decent one imo.

 

Ant right now is our best offensive player, and best shooter next to Grant. It's only logic he is taking many shots. Do you guys know Ant stats were a little better the season with Dame on LOWER usage?

Yes, he is our main weapon on a poor team with low talent. He is getting the best defender guarding him and getting doubled a lot. But that's just the makeup of our team. If other players can rise from year to year, Scoot and Sharpe, Cling now, it will allow teams to not focus solely on him and can open up the floor for everyone more. Ant won't need to try to do as much. We need our young guys to step up more year to year, that's a fact.

 

You clearly haven't watched Knicks games. Bruson does pound the ball and is their main offensive weapon. He is just very effective in the way he plays and his team is full of good dog defenders. Mitchell isn't a PG but guess what Ant isn't either lol. Ant is best as our SG.

 

I prefer Ant to be 6th man, backing up Scoot and Shaedon. I want Scoot and Shaedon to become so great that my preference isn't ridiculous

 

Ya that’s perfectly fine. I get that too. Regardless of who starts or not, there is enough mins for all of them.

 

So it appears maybe we've already kept Ant too long and there is no demand for him.

CJ 2.0

Awesome.

 

Iverson made it to the Finals.

 

yeah, I think you're probably right. Sure seems like Miami has been trying to dump Tyler Herro for a couple of years now and he's arguably as good as Ant on offense, better on defense (though still bad), and more than 2 inches taller. Cleveland is shopping Garland. Appears the Wizards regret their big offer to Jordan Poole. Lakers may be almost eager to wave bye bye to DLo.

The Pelicans tried to trade for Scoot in the 2023 draft and just sent out Nance + Daniels + two 1st's for Murray. Of course, Murray is not like those other smallish guards in that he plays some near-elite defense; and he may be the best 'tweener' guard in the league possessing great PG skills. The Pels seem to have low confidence in CJ as any kind of a core player. But again, it appears NBA teams do tend to put a priority on defense

Ant is an undersized SG who is terrible at defense. Meaning he has no 3&D impact and can't be a wing. His natural role would be coming off the bench but he's overpaid for the role. His natural position may be PG, but the Blazers have Scoot and Scoot is a main reason why the front office maneuvered Dame into asking for a trade