They talk about Scoot starting at 1:13:40, and Simons at 1:18:48.
Curious what others thoughts are, particularly on the Simons piece. We don’t often hear a non-blazer related party talk about Simons, so I think it’s interesting to hear an un-biased perspective. I think I tend to agree that him being a sixth man on a good (contending) team would be ideal.
They also contextualize for both Ant and Scoot that we have had a litany of injuries and a young roster. They seemed more encouraged/intrigued by Scoot, especially with his recent play, than Simons, but I think it’s more fun to root for and see how the younger rookie pans out/develops. They particularly pointed out his slightly better than expected shooting, pick and roll offense, vision/passing and work ethic.
I love both of these guys, and look forward to getting some genuine Sharpe minutes now that Scoot is getting more settled. My ideal long-term situation would be a Scoot/Sharpe backcourt with a Simons sixth man situation, but I know we’ll likely have to pick just two of them eventually 🙂
6 comments
Simons closest comp is a absolutely Herro and that’s exactly why I always want to trade him
I think calling him 6th man quality is way too harsh. I saw a stat earlier this year that had Simons in the top 5 in terms of gravity in the entire NBA. This man is the absolute focal point of defensive attention every night. The way he has handled all that defensive pressure this year has led me to believe that he very likely isnt a first or second option on a team that isnt terrible. But is he a third option on a good team? Yeah, i think he could be.
Going forward the question will be about fit, do we want Ant to be our third option? For me that’s probably a no, i’d prefer a two way guy, but its also entirely dependent on how the rest of our roster shapes up in the long term.
Ant is the same prototype combo guard who is score first and bad at defense, if his shot isn’t falling he doesn’t do much else. I’d love to ship him this off season.
I know it gets tiring to blame Chauncey for everything but I honestly think he has impacted Simons in a negative way and wasn’t able to mold him into a great player that can fit different schemes.
Think about when Simons has been at his best. It’s when he is the main guy dictating the offense with high PnRs where he can shoot the 3 when the defending big is in a drop. Other actions would be to drive and either finish or find a corner shooter OR release the ball when Simon’s gets trapped. When this is working, Simon’s looks like mini Dame.
However, Simon’s hasn’t looked effective off the ball when playing with Dame OR Scoot. It’s sad because it seems like this is the player that Simons thinks he has to be. To always try to score first to start accepting double teams THEN he can start finding open players and it’s why Simon’s has so much gravity because he does get up a ton of self created 3s.
But it’s essential Peak Dame style offense and Simons isn’t quite there yet. Early on when he was breaking out, I was hoping he would turn to a peak Dame 4/10 from 3 on average but Simon’s can’t manipulate the game like Dame could when playing elite defenses. Simon’s can’t draw fouls and punish physical defenders instead he tries to be aggressive with his shots and even attacking bigs at the rim, he just doesn’t draw fouls like Dame could and it hurts his efficiency and the way he can score.
Maybe he could get to that level BUT it’s clear that his play style now is best when he gets to run a ton of PnRs on the ball and hasn’t been able to be a solid SG and I think that’s partly due to Billups system. He was hired to implement more ball movement and go away from Dame/CJ having to take tough iso looks but Dame was too damn good and now he’s trying to make Simons play that style and it’s not working great. Which is why a lot of people could see how Scoot should be the main guy and then you could probably build a more well rounded team rather. It’s tricky and it sucks because I love all the guards
Simons gotta go for future sadly. He will be traded for the all star caliber forward for ys
Ant’s game is 100% suited to be a perennial 6th man of the year candidate. I love Ant, so I want to see him put in positions to succeed. Play him with Matisse/Toumani/Jabari/Timelord and tell him to just get the team buckets. His gravity will make it easier on Matisse as a spot shooter, Toumani as a cutter, Jabari as an offensive rebounder, and Timelord as a playmaker and vertical lob threat. You reduce the issues he’s had with inconsistencies by making his role crystal clear and letting the Ant-Ferno burn 2nd units to the ground.