Disappointingly for second-year guard Anfernee Simons, he isn’t part of the Portland Trail Blazers rotation in the NBA Bubble in Orlando.
Anfernee Simons has a bright future ahead of him in this league. But at the moment, he isn’t part of the Portland Trail Blazers rotation in Orlando.
Simons is in his second year in the league, and although he has improved his play since last season, he has struggled to make a consistent impact on the court in 2019/20.
Because he is just six-foot-three with a slight frame, he is a combo guard. Unless he becomes a 38 percent three-point shooter or a great slasher, Simons is a combo-guard. Keeping this in mind, he needs to work on his playmaking. Unless he can score a lot more efficiently, then he needs to balance a strong playmaking game with better scoring.
So far this season, Simons sits in the bottom five percent in his position for assisting others, and the amount of assists a player gets based on his usage. As Simons needs the ball in his hands to be effective, he needs to be so much better when setting up his teammates.
If he can work on his catch and shoot game and even get his three-ball up to 36 percent, then he could get minutes. Defense is also a problem for Simons though. He never gets steals, ( bottom three percent in his position. ) He isn’t the best decision-maker, and when defending the pick and roll ball-handler, he does get himself into trouble by not making the right read.
Because of his small frame, he has to guard the opposition’s weakest perimeter threat. This isn’t a huge problem, but it means that when he is on the floor, he has to be able to make the right reads and defend the man he has at a competent level. Steals aren’t a sign of great defense, but he needs to do more things at a plus level on the NBA court. Fouling less is also a work on for Simons, he sits in the bottom 25 percent of his position when it comes to foul rate.
Looking at it from a team point of view, Simons hasn’t exactly had it easy though. He is just twenty-one and was thrown in the deep end on a Blazers team who had significant injuries this year. Simons even had to play the three for around 200 minutes this season. That didn’t help his case.
Teammate Gary Tren Jr. made the most of this opportunity though, but he is more of an off-ball player who can fit in well with CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard. Simons has now fallen behind Trent in the rotation.
There is no reason that Simons cant get himself back into the rotation. It would only take one injury or a guard getting into early foul trouble, and then Simons can jump in and show that he demands minutes on this team.
Simons is a hard worker who will no doubt have taken this on the chin and worked even harder on his game so he can get back in the rotation. This team does need shot creation and three-point shooting, especially on the second unit. Simons can be part of that if he can rectify the shortcomings in his game.