It's still higher. Is he elite at point? No, but he's pretty good and other guys like DDV are playing with Ant most of the time, which makes their life that much easier. Which if you project to White playing with Ant could make him a better player as well.
You're just going to get a lot more open shots and easy driving lanes playing with a superstar like Ant.
The only issue I have is he is a FA. Could you agree to a fair extension with a trade though? Maybe. I kind of like the idea overall.
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Ant doesn't make anybody else better. He has gravity but he doesn't know how to exploit it. His game is highly Ant centric.
I disagree, he not only takes the other teams best defender, BIG check, he has faced the most doubles in the NBA over the last season. DDV gets a lot of open looks as well as Jaden. To say otherwise is foolish to be fair, maybe worse then your Rudy take.
Thats where White as a 3rd or 4th option could excel. He's getting far less coverage and not facing elite defenders either.
Facing doubles does not equal making teams pay for them. It's one reason he gets so many - they are effective against him.
Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 12, 2025 12:11 pm
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Ant doesn't make anybody else better. He has gravity but he doesn't know how to exploit it. His game is highly Ant centric.
I disagree, he not only takes the other teams best defender, BIG check, he has faced the most doubles in the NBA over the last season. DDV gets a lot of open looks as well as Jaden. To say otherwise is foolish to be fair, maybe worse then your Rudy take.
Thats where White as a 3rd or 4th option could excel. He's getting far less coverage and not facing elite defenders either.
Facing doubles does not equal making teams pay for them. It's one reason he gets so many - they are effective against him.
I'd say were quite effective, they've lost much of that ability as Ant has learned to score through them with elite footwork and much better finishing at the rim, he also has developed into a very good passer through last season and into this. He's still not elite at either passing or handling yet, but he's very good.
He's even lobbing it to Rudy. Add that to Jaden knocking down 3's as well in the corners. I may not want to double Ant as much. Saying that another guy who can dribble drive, score and pass like a Kyrie would be deadly playing with Ant. Like I said, even a White would be likely much improved seeing lesser defenders, more open shots and wider lanes.
There's a report that the Knicks are once again asking about DiVincenzo.
Not saying I'd do this, but picks aside, here's the framework of a deal that could work
Knicks get
Donte DiVincenzo
Leonard Miller
Kings get
Mitchell Robinson
Rob Dillingham
Wolves get
Devin Carter
Keon Ellis
Miles McBride
Dario Saric (who would be waived)
effectively the Wolves swap Rob for a player who has been worse, but fits the framework of someone who Finch would actually wanna use (and he could go to G League and stay there for all we care). We get Ellis and McBride which solve the backcourt issues temporarily, Knicks get a young big body we'll never use and get DiVincenzo back. Kings get an upgrade over Carter and an expiring deal they could flip better than Saric.
Is Scotty Pippen Jr the perfect point guard for this team and is there any reasonable way to get him?
I know he's hurt right now, but I simply don't see how he wouldn't be perfect for the
Perhaps Memphis would like moving Jackson for Randle which would be a good upgrade for them, so maybe a 3 team deal sending Jackson to a 3rd team, Pippen plus picks to the wolves and Randle to the Grizzly.
Jaden moves to PF, Naz to SF and Pippen off the bench.
.... Hmmm Pippen's nice but that would be pretty poor return on Randle unless those are high value picks. Which would mean the team is punting on contending this year- not the worst idea imo, but not the best. I think you would want to get back a 2nd player who is a good to great wing that can defend.
I doubt this would happen, but Mike Conley to Utah for Kyle Anderson makes sense for both teams. Utah would get out from under SloMo's 2-year contract, who isn't even part of their rotation. Mike would then have his "swan song" with his old team, the up and coming Jazz. The Wolves would turn some of their backcourt depth into frontcourt depth with SloMo, who is familar with the system and many players. SloMo could provide some defense, and also offers playmaking skills.
If only we didn't have that handshake no-trade clause with Mike...
I would really like to do a deal for Kyrie. Maybe Naz and Dilly or conley and Donte and picks if we have any for him? If not Naz I guess you would have to do Randle. Can you imagine though a lineup of
Irving
Ant
Jaden
Randle
Gobert
Our bench would be thinned out but damn that would be filthy. Irving passing and creating for Ant and Gobert. I honestly think this lineup could beat OKC depending on how bad our bench is.
Crazysauce wrote: ↑Sat Dec 13, 2025 11:36 pm
I would really like to do a deal for Kyrie. Maybe Naz and Dilly or conley and Donte and picks if we have any for him? If not Naz I guess you would have to do Randle. Can you imagine though a lineup of
Irving
Ant
Jaden
Randle
Gobert
Our bench would be thinned out but damn that would be filthy. Irving passing and creating for Ant and Gobert. I honestly think this lineup could beat OKC depending on how bad our bench is.
Yeah, I would do that deal too, and I think the Wolves have inquired about Irving. The problem is while we may be dreaming about the lineup you laid out, the Mavs are dreaming about Gafford (or Lively)/AD/Washington/Flagg/Irving. I think Dallas believes they can still make the playoffs this season, and challenge for a championship next season. I can't see them moving away from Kyrie unless someone offered them a top 10 player.
I disagree, he not only takes the other teams best defender, BIG check, he has faced the most doubles in the NBA over the last season. DDV gets a lot of open looks as well as Jaden. To say otherwise is foolish to be fair, maybe worse then your Rudy take.
Thats where White as a 3rd or 4th option could excel. He's getting far less coverage and not facing elite defenders either.
Facing doubles does not equal making teams pay for them. It's one reason he gets so many - they are effective against him.
I'd say were quite effective, they've lost much of that ability as Ant has learned to score through them with elite footwork and much better finishing at the rim, he also has developed into a very good passer through last season and into this. He's still not elite at either passing or handling yet, but he's very good.
He's even lobbing it to Rudy. Add that to Jaden knocking down 3's as well in the corners. I may not want to double Ant as much. Saying that another guy who can dribble drive, score and pass like a Kyrie would be deadly playing with Ant. Like I said, even a White would be likely much improved seeing lesser defenders, more open shots and wider lanes.
Exactly this! There has been quite the over correction when it comes to Ant because he isn't Luka, and well very few people are. Want to know what Ant is that Luka isn't so far this season, and has largely gone unnoticed this year- a much more efficient scorer.
As you said, he's not elite at passing or handling, but he's gotten better every year and is still very good at these things. Whereas the narrative seems to have grown to him being actively bad at this.... Which is nonsense
Chris Haynes mentions Minnesota when it comes to Giannis destinations.
I think Milwaukee would realistically want Jaden, Naz, Joan and Rob for a mix of win now and prospects but the problem is it creates a roster imbalance that is too large for both teams to work as the Wolves would only get back Giannis and a minimum player back.
I think most likely the Wolves would keep Naz and put Julius in the deal which would allow a 4 for 4 trade involving 3 out of Cole Anthony, Amir Coffey, Thanassis, Jericho Sims, Gary Harris, Gary Trent or Taurean Prince.
If Giannis actually puts the Wolves on HIS list I think the Wolves would have a very strong bid. I don't think the other teams in the running have strong pick packages to offer and the Spurs reportedly won't put Castle or Harper in a deal so the door seems cracked open for TC. Losing Jaden would hurt but a Giannis trade puts the Wolves in the top tier for sure.
While Giannis is damn intriguing, I don't think I would include Jaden in the deal. Randle, playing the same position, is clearly the main part of any trade, plus whatever other filler is needed. I am confident Rudy would not be included due to his contract, age and difficulty to blend into a new roster.
It sorta comes down to what Milwaukee's long term plans are. Do they want to stay competitive? Or are they going into full rebuild mode? The Wolves chances depends on Milwaukee wanting to stay competitive. Then Randle and Donte become the key pieces with whatever else is needed. Shannon? Dilly? Mike for salary relief? And regardless, a 3rd team has to be involved since neither team can take back more salary than they send out.
