I want it to be noted that I was against trading Ant Simmons....

It might be for whomever makes money off this site? There is always a view different than your own.

 

I really like Dame but his contract can hold us up to get really good players in here to play beside him. He might be his own worse enemy not on the floor but his huge contract. Yes the way salaries are structured in this league and with the salary cap with his his contract in a management that's don't want to pay over the cap it's really ties the GM hands of he can actually do. There teams careless how much they dole out to try to get the ring but Portland now days isn't that team. As much I like Dame it's might be time to move on from him and get quality players back that has short contracts. So basically we need to start over with the youth movement.

 

I want it to be noted that I'm all for trading Ant and Nas and have been for the last two seasons. Also no matter what his age is...Ant can't tie Dame's shoes and under Ant's leadership we tanked twice when Dame was out injured. Ant needs to go to Orlando.

 

I do think that Ant is above the Poole/Herro comparisons he is often comped to, and he will get better on defense to the point where I would not be surprised if his next contract is also above $100 million.

I still think we have to trade him because of Dame, but he is not just salary filler imo and he should be valued as someone who could fetch 1-2 firsts in any deal we include him in for #3.

 

Under Ant's leadership we were bottom in defense both seasons. Ant is not a great defender and probably never will be. He doesn't get stops.

 

I just checked the roster and there is no Ant Simmons… oh no he has already been traded.

 

I guess if we're going on record about Anfernee Simons (which I think is what the OP was trying to do) I want it to be noted that I want Ant traded, not dumped but traded for someone with comparable value that actually fits on this roster. Dame and Ant suck together. They are terrible on defense and they make each other worse on offense. The fact that after six seasons of watching the same thing with CJ (I know Ant and CJ are very different it just so happens that they both are terrible in the back court with Dame) I cannot believe that there are so many supposed fans in this forum that want to keep rolling with that awful pairing.

 

Since the goal after Dame went out was to tank, not sure that can be counted against him.

In the last 4 seasons, we are 137-173 in the last 4 seasons with a grand total of 3 Playoff game wins and 0 Playoff series wins. Not sure that is the best direction to try to build around to be honest.

 

As you pointed out, in two of those seasons we were tanking. As you know the two seasons before that we were playing Dame and CJ major minutes together and they sucked together just as much as Dame and Ant do. I guess if you want to you could say that Dame is the common factor but I think it's probably putting Dame in the back court with another small guard who has shown he is better on offense without Dame and who is shitty on defense when combined with Dame.

 

I think the thing that sets Dame up to be the exception to the rule is that his game isn't built completely around his athleticism. The same reason for Curry's success as he gets a little older. The same reason that a long successful career for guys like Wall, Rose, Fults are harder to predict. Dame, along with Curry, have traits that age pretty well because shooting and being the team leader can improve with age.

 

Agreed. It's not Dame's fault other than he is a common denominator. Olshey was who put smurf like, no-D teams together. That said, Dame's style of play (small, ball dominant guard that doesn't play much D) does not typically lend itself to being a contending team. Dame is great at what he does....but it doesn't lead to great team results.

 

Dumbasses gonna dumbass.

 

Reddit is way better for staying up on breaking news because stuff just gets dumped into mega threads here.

 

Since the list of point guards who are similar to Dame begins and ends with Steph Curry, I’m not particularly impressed with the discussion about how few win titles. And, if the Blazers trade Dame and keep Ant as the PG of the future, I can state with no hesitation that most of those calling for him to be kept will be on the “Trade Ant” bandwagon within a year because ANT IS NOT A POINT GUARD.

 

I would love to see how much his usage rate would go down if he was given the opportunity to play with a scorer like Zion... or even KAT. Dame just hasn't had guys that he could get the ball to in the flow of an offense that he was initiating that he could trust to be as effective of a scorer as he is. The two best scorers Dame has played with since LaMarcus have been guys who have far too close of skill sets to Dame so when he'd get them the ball they would dominate it with less time on the clock... essentially reducing our offense to guys taking turns playing the exact same way but both of those guys (CJ and Ant) are far less effective, doing the same thing Dame does but just doing it worse and being less willing passers.

I think it's weird that you identify just how horribly the rosters around Dame have been constructed since 2015 and even then the bench was absolute shit but at the same time condemn Dame for his ball dominant usage. Dame dominating the ball has been prudent, I don't think he has to. He doesn't do that on all star teams... there are plenty of plays where he operates without the ball. The question becomes who has he played with that he could feel comfortable getting the ball to who would get it back to him if he got himself open, the answer is unfortunately no one or maybe Evan Turner and I guess Batum would find Dame too.

 

That is possibly the most incorrect statement I have ever read online.

Though green font may have been inferred.

 

I'd say that's true of Chauncey but Ant was trying to win as hard as possible...it got him a bag of money in the process. Ant is a 5 year veteran now...he is who he's going to be in my view.

 

Simons scoring at all 3 levels has picked up … and looking good doing it. Dame moves from 3. Shooting deeper.
Other 3pt shooters — CJ, Harden, most all, really — shoot right at the 3 point line. Amazing when Dame can just calmly, with space and time get one up from the line. Dame is that frickin’ rare, especially off screens.

With Sharpe at the 2 … and by the end of next year he’s probably (?) the starter … and Grant at the 4 (really solid minus rebounds) … means the Blazers NEED a quality, starting SF. [Yes, a better bench and a lighter, healthy Nurkic! or better]

Dame is an anomaly. He needs that right dude at 3. IMHO, there is a path this year. It is rare. Make the shot, Cronin! Too bad that Ant and 3 are the cost.