Anfernee Simons needs to become the backup playmaker the Portland Trail Blazers need
The Portland Trail Blazers have been lacking a true floor-general off the bench for years now. The hope was that Anfernee Simons could grow into that role.
Unfortunately, the third year guard only averaged 1.3 assists per game last season, which was actually a step down from his sophomore year.
Those totals are just not going to cut it, especially for a player who is expected to be his team’s only guard off the bench.
An encouraging stat is that he did finish the season with a 2:1 assist-turnover ratio. It’s not that Simons is necessarily a bad passer or decision-maker, the problem is his inability to pass his teammates open or make advanced reads.
In this clip, Simons finds himself in trouble as Keldon Johnson hounds him on the sideline. Rather than use his handle to escape the trap he walked himself into, he picks up his dribble—digging himself into a deeper hole. Rather than wait for help, he floats a soft lob pass into Enes Kanter who’s smothered by Rudy Gay, and the defender winds up with an easy steal.
The entry pass in theory isn’t a terrible idea. Kanter has good position and a mismatch down on the block. If Simons had used his handle to put himself in a better spot to make that pass, that play could have resulted in an easy two points for Kanter down-low.
These little technical deficiencies are indicators that Simons is not a natural playmaker, a fact that has been made more and more obvious with each passing game. Ultimately though, he’ll need to improve his ability to create for others, at least to the point of being a secondary playmaker, if he wants to have a star-level impact on games.