Portland Trail Blazers: Will Anfernee Simons get a rookie extension?

Third-year Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard Anfernee Simons had a breakout year in 2021. Only just turning 22 in the last month, Simons showed maturity and growth in his game to break back into the rotation after a tough second season in the NBA.

Will the Portland Trail Blazers extend Anfernee Simons before the deadline?

Drafted with the 24th pick in the 2018 Draft, Simons is gifted athletically and has started using these talents more in his third season. The biggest parts of his game to grow last season, were his defense and his three-point shooting. He could be in line for a nice payday soon.

Though he has a slight frame, Simons at six-foot-four with a plus wingspan is able to make plays on the defensive end. He improved his ability to navigate screens, while also making good decisions when defending on-balls. As a transition defender, he used his other-worldly athleticism to impact shots at the rim and be in the right spot for rebounds. He won’t be an All-defensive team selection, but his growth on that end is positive.

As a shooter, he took massive leaps forward in both shot selection and efficiency.

In the 2020 season, he took a lot of midrange shots, but only hit 38 percent of them.

In 2021, he halved his midrange attempts and focussed on hitting threes off the catch in the corner, or off the dribble or a screen above the break. These two changes meant he had wild success in his 16 minutes a night in 2021.

He hit a scarcely believable 57 percent on corner threes while hitting 40 percent above the break. These two combined for him to hit 42.6 percent of his three-pointers on a strong volume of 4.4 attempts a game. This rate was good enough for 14th in the entire NBA.

The rules governing rookie extensions state that a player has to sign the extension on the final day before the regular season starts on the last year of their rookie deal. For Simons, that is this season. He has definitely done enough to earn this extension, but Neil Olshey and the Blazers have a track record of not extending players at the rookie deadline.

In Neil’s time in charge of the team, only Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum have got extensions at the deadline. All other players have hit restricted free agency and then negotiated a payday.

Restricted free agency is after the rookie deal finishes, and lets the market decide a player’s worth, as other teams are able to make offers for the player. The team that the player is on then has match rights so they can outbid any deal from another team.

As the Blazers have always done business this way, it probably means that Ant will likely need to wait till after his fourth season to negotiate a payday. He definitely deserves a new deal, but like it or love it, Olshey is very particular, so Ant will need to wait.