Bogus! Chris Mannix: Chauncey gone

His value for us maybe, since he only has two years left on his contract. But he is also a couple of years away from entering his prime. So his overall value is not going to plummet.

 

Simons isn’t too old. We’re just too guard heavy so it’s time to make a decision.

Sharpe is tricky trying to assess his value. But he showed me a ton in his sophomore year. Still has things to work on and let’s be honest, Chauncey ran him ragged. He was way ready to come back toward the end of the year. But what was the point?

I don’t think Sharpe has that alpha mentality. But he could possibly the best #2 in the game on the right team a few years from now.

My questions with the future are much more surrounding Scoot. I’m gonna be honest, this is a league of keeping teams honest to open up that drive game. Unless he works non stop on his jumper and tunes that part of his game it’s going to be tough sledding. He improved toward the end of the year which is encouraging, but it needs to be a focal point on his development.

Which leads to Simons. Streak scorer, borderline dominant at the ability to get his own. But that’s where his game begins and ends. He’d be absolutely ideal as a spark off the bench. On a good team. But to act like he’s someone you should build around or mortgage the future for is a bit disingenuous. He and CJ are very similar in that when they’re on, it’s artwork and beautiful and we love them. If they’re off they’re an absolute detriment to the team philosophy and hinder more than help.

I’ve been saying this for years. IMO you package Simons. A max contract is too much money for a heat check guy.

 

Simons isn't on a max contract nor will he be, so I don't think we need to worry about that. In fact, one could make the case he's underpaid.



Agree with your takes on Sharpe and Scoot. If they were both living up to the hype/potential, moving off Ant would be an easier choice. I hate the idea of getting even worse because I think we're getting real close to having our talent level get to such a low that it'll become hard to make moves in the future.

 

it's not his age, it's his talent, limitations, and fit

 

Can't agree with the talent part because he's the best player on the roster, and I'm not ready to trade the entire roster. He is an imperfect player, but again, so is every other player on the roster. If we had a young all-star to build around, I'd consider "fit", but again, that player doesn't exist.

Having said that, if he can return a high level forward, I'm all for trading him. Nobody on this roster is untradable for me.

 

But best player on the roster is such a low bar at this point that it hardly holds any relevance.

Mike James was once the ‘best’ player on a really shitty roster

 

All the more reason that using Ant's talent as a reason to trade him makes little to no sense. As I previously said, the talent level on the roster is so low, it would be malpractice to try and get worse. If they can trade Ant for a more talented player, do it!

Also, the claim that Ant doesn't "fit" around guys who aren't even as talented as him is a head scratcher.

 

Malpractice to get worse? Being worse at this point will pay more dividends considering we are nowhere close to competing. Halfway sucking is an awful approach.

As I said in another post we should go full on suck. We have no business being top 10 in salary. We need to rid ourselves of Simons, Grant, Brogdon and Williams.

Collecting assets should be the prerogative. In a year or two assess those assets and make steps toward piecing together the roster going forward.

 

It would be malpractice to trade a 24 year old on a good contract if we get less talent back in return. At that point we would likely be getting worse in the short and long run in regards to assets, an area we're already weak in.

Ant is nowhere near the same category as Grant, Brogdon, and Williams (Williams is only 26 but his body is 36). He's the same age as Camara and a year older than Kris Murray. His contract is not the cause of the salary cap issues. Trading Ant as a cap dump would be wild. Again, if we can trade Ant for a better player/asset, then great. But we do not need to trade Ant anymore than we need to trade all the other guys on the roster.

We full on sucked last year with Ant, and we'll full on suck next year. Reducing assets to prioritize getting worse or giving the keys to players who have not shown to be worth it would be a huge risk with more downside than upside in my opinion.

 

lol...you say that like it's a fact...which it's not. Brogdon was probably the best player on the roster because there are two ends of the floor. After him it was probably Ayton, then a tie between Ant/Grant

 

My post was said as a fact as much as your statement that Ant is a bad fit is a fact... which it's not.

I disagree about Ant being T-3 for talent, but I can see a case for all the players you've mentioned. I believe Ant has the best mixture of talent/contract of anyone not on a rookie deal. I think there is a clear difference between the wanting to get value from guys on the wrong side of 30 vs needing to trade a player at age 24, on a good contract. Ant is the youngest of the 4 players you mentioned and he makes far less than Ayton, who I also don't think we need to trade.

Can you give me a realistic trade that you'd accept for Ant? There are a lot of trades I'd be willing to accept for him, but I'm not willing to dump him for 75 cents on the dollar just to make room for two guys who couldn't even make the all-rookie second team.

 

wut?

we have a big gap in how we view Ant's talent. I'd think that gap would extend to what we view as a "realistic" return, so we'd still be at the same impasse

 

Maybe. If you think he's as talented as Grant, but 6 years younger, and on a better contract, we may not be that far off because I'm very close to that. I'm curious what you would consider an acceptable trade for him. At the end of the day, in order to trade him, we have to find a trade partner who values him enough to give up pieces we believe match our need going forward.

Would you be happy to simply salary dump him? Do you think a bench level player is enough in return?

 

WCJ + a lottery protected 1st + 14M TPE

 

I don't love it, but I don't hate it either. I think that's probably the ballpark of best-case scenario as far as a return for Ant goes.

Feels like a net loss in the asset department.

 

Portland front office has learned the art of buying time. Never wanting to be splashy because the safe route is easier and they can collect more paychecks. I always felt that way about Olshey. He didn’t want to gamble or take risks to get to the next level because why? Stability with an oblivious owner (Jody) is the much safer play.

 

Not if you’re like me and look at Simons as an equivalent to Lou Williams

 

It clears the way for Scoot and we clear some space. The goal is to secure a top 3 pick next year.

 

but again, that goes to our significant difference in views on Ant as a player. I agree that's probably a best case scenario. But you may disagree when I said that's best case because the rest of the NBA is judging Ant's value objectively.

but of course, if that is the best case scenario, it's hard to also judge it as a net asset loss. WCJ, a future 1st, and a large TPE are decent assets

 

That's probably a pretty fair comparison. Ant has already had two seasons that were statistically as good as Lou Williams best season (at age 31), so I'd say Ant has more upside. I'd probably put him closer to Jamal Crawford, though I feel like Crawford had something extra to him that Ant doesn't, yet.