Let’s never compare Ant to SGA, Jokic, Luka or Giannis

sikma42 · Post #1 » by **sikma42** » Thu May 29, 2025 1:47 am

The apparent next face of the league and one of the only true US stars just doesn’t have it. Lot of people say he’s young, but find me an example where someone went from a poor basketball iq (reading defenses, passing) to an elite point of attack player.

Think everyone likes Ants persona so much that they overlooked the HUGE holes in his game. Sad to see and think he is a very talented player but he isn’t going to get to the level SGA, Luka, Jokic and Giannis are already at.

I thought last year might have been a fluke but he’s legit lost out there when asked to make decisions. RIP to Ant ever being compared to the truly elite players.

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Infinite Llamas · Post #2 » by **Infinite Llamas** » Thu May 29, 2025 1:50 am

Dude ain’t even better than Haliburton let alone the upper echelon guys. “King slayer” my ass lol

Ssj16 · Post #3 » by **Ssj16** » Thu May 29, 2025 1:55 am

I think Ant is definitely overrated due to the hype machine and I feel like he wouldnt crack the top 5 at this juncture but I won't write him off because he has shown some signs of greatness.

But we definitely need to chill on the MJ son thing. He might be MJ's second cousin's nephew at this point.

NyKnicks1714 · Post #4 » by **NyKnicks1714** » Thu May 29, 2025 1:57 am

He may very well not get there but this is premature, prisoner of the moment talk.

Frank Dux · Post #5 » by **Frank Dux** » Thu May 29, 2025 1:58 am

One of the things that annoys me the most about the NBA is the desperation to prematurely anoint a new “face of the league”.

It happens naturally. Win a title then fans and the media will give you your due.

dautjazz · Post #6 » by **dautjazz** » Thu May 29, 2025 1:58 am

Who in their right mind compared Ant to Jokic ot Giannis? Perhaps in the past you could compare him to SGA, but I never thought of him like that.

Wallace_Wallace · Post #7 » by **Wallace_Wallace** » Thu May 29, 2025 1:59 am

Better talent than Wade, but lacks Wade’s killer instincts.

Patches Perry · Post #8 » by **Patches Perry** » Thu May 29, 2025 1:59 am

I hate that Ant has been overrated because it makes people come down hard on him when he fails to meet those unfair expectations. He's a top 15 guy.

MN7725 · Post #9 » by **MN7725** » Thu May 29, 2025 2:01 am

Lets see what he looks like playing with even a mediocre PG

Doranku · Post #10 » by **Doranku** » Thu May 29, 2025 2:01 am

No one in NBA history is taking Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert to the finals.

Cavsfansince84 · Post #11 » by **Cavsfansince84** » Thu May 29, 2025 2:03 am

All it will take is one 40 pt game by Ant in next year's playoffs for that train to start rolling again. Having said that, he is still young with room to grow but its this whole 'playoffs are all that matter' mindset this board can get trapped in sometimes that makes people overrate him.

Deathray · Post #12 » by **Deathray** » Thu May 29, 2025 2:06 am

He should be punishing teams with his athleticism driving to the rim especially considering they have to play him close on the perimeter because he can make 3's. He's still young so we'll see what happens. He's got the perfect set of tools to be dictate the game on offense but he hasn't figured out how to use them aggressively yet.

Sharkboy242 · Post #13 » by **Sharkboy242** » Thu May 29, 2025 2:09 am

He sucks. Trade him to the Nuggets for Murray and we'll make a winner out of him.

Cavsfansince84 · Post #14 » by **Cavsfansince84** » Thu May 29, 2025 2:09 am

Doranku wrote:No one in NBA history is taking Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert to the finals.

Gobert would have been the best player LeBron played with from 04-10 and Randle made an all nba team. LeBron with those two might have won an nba title.

Doranku · Post #15 » by **Doranku** » Thu May 29, 2025 2:13 am

Cavsfansince84 wrote:
Doranku wrote:No one in NBA history is taking Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert to the finals.

Gobert would have been the best player LeBron played with from 04-10 and Randle made an all nba team. LeBron with those two might have won an nba title.

LeBron's jump shot was still shaky during his first stint in Cleveland, the spacing would be horrific. The Celtics would have absolutely mauled a Bron/Randle/Gobert trio.

PhilBlackson · Post #16 » by **PhilBlackson** » Thu May 29, 2025 2:16 am

He's 23 years old...and unfortunately the media is trying to build a false narrative because they desperately want to crown another American born player as the face of the league.

But most of those guys are either entering their prime or in it. I'm not saying he'll definitively reach their level but you gotta give these kids time. For perspective Ant averaged 27ppg this year, SGA at the same age averaged 24ppg (granted he exploded to 30+ the next season). But the kid has now made 2 Conference Finals for a franchise that was largely irrelevant for almost 2 decades so clearly there's potential there.

But nonetheless, the media needs to kill all this talk about him being the "next face of the league" and it's really some disrespectful sh*t that the media continues to ignore the actual best players just because they all happen to be international. They're just too damn desperate to try & crown an American born player as the best again and I'm not sure if that's gonna happen for a long time considering Vic will start his uprise in the next couple of years or so too.

Wolfgang630 · Post #17 » by **Wolfgang630** » Thu May 29, 2025 2:16 am

He’s definitely overrated. He played in an easy bracket. He played a Curryless team. He’s been inconsistent for two years. His team overall was just better, but he’s not some top 5 player

California Gold · Post #18 » by **California Gold** » Thu May 29, 2025 2:22 am

Wallace_Wallace wrote:Better talent than Wade, but lacks Wade’s killer instincts.

Wade was more skilled. Ant looks like a two tricky pony in the playoffs. Either jacks up a 3 or slashes to the rim. No footwork, no play out of the post. Wade's crossover package was also greater.

Add the killer instinct like you said and you're comparing two players on a different planet. Yes Ant is 23 but the age excuse is only going to last for so long if he doesn't add more offense to his game besides just taking a bunch of 3's.

Cavsfansince84 · Post #19 » by **Cavsfansince84** » Thu May 29, 2025 2:23 am

Doranku wrote:
LeBron's jump shot was still shaky during his first stint in Cleveland, the spacing would be horrific. The Celtics would have absolutely mauled a Bron/Randle/Gobert trio.

He literally almost took them out in game 7 in 08 with worse teammates. Give him a legit dpoy who would have been even more effective in 07-10 and Randle as his #2 scorer over Gooden, Big Z, Verajao and they do way better.

MN7725 · Post #20 » by **MN7725** » Thu May 29, 2025 2:25 am

California Gold wrote:
Wallace_Wallace wrote:Better talent than Wade, but lacks Wade’s killer instincts.

Wade was more skilled. Ant looks like a two tricky pony in the playoffs. Either jacks up a 3 or slashes to the rim. No footwork, no play out of the post. Wade's crossover package was also greater.

Add the killer instinct like you said and you're comparing two players on a different planet. Yes Ant is 23 but the age excuse is only going to last for so long if he doesn't add more offense to his game besides just taking a bunch of 3's.

Ant played completely different when the Wolves only had KAT before trading for Gobert and there was space (albeit much worse team)

He's adjusted to his teammates