I didn't say he was...thus the '?' He's probably lateral to Ant. Might be a better defender. But when I look at it, he's more expensive, so no
Our most logical trade asset is clearly Ant so any big moves should be cantered around Simons. Bad fit for Dame, but great shooter and will be attractive to other NBA teams. The question is just how valuable the rest of the NBA sees him? Some of the names mentioned on this board, OG, Bridges, Siakam etc. I feel fairly certain Ant alone would not cut it and we'd need to include picks + other talent. And even then, there are a lot of small guards who can fill it up but can't defend in this league, so going all for Simons makes little sense for most franchises in the league. We have an issue in that there are too many areas of the roster than need an upgrade. The backcourt lacks balance and the frontcourt lacks rebounding/size/depth. They should be looking for an NBA starting 2-way wing in the OG/Bridges mould, and frontcourt players who offer defence/ rebounding/size who could potentially replace Nurk in the near future. It'll likely take more than one trade window to fix these issues. For me it's a question of addressing either the backcourt or the frontcourt in the summer and kicking the other into the long grass until the deadline/next year. I think the direction they take will depend on who is available in the market, and who they like in the draft.
the issue is that Portland is trying to trade something that is less rare—a good volume shooter who is at best a slight negative defensively—for something that is more rare—a two way wing, or, a two way big. him being 23 helps—but then you need to target someone a bit older. ant will have value but his position and defensive limitations won’t help cronin as an asset. I am guessing cronin is holding out for a trade where he doesn’t have to attach much sweetener to ant. Moving ant plus a boat of picks would be tough from an asset management standpoint.
