Portland Trail Blazers: 3 guards for Anfernee Simons to emulate

2. Patrick Beverley

Patrick Beverley has made an entire career, and a collection of technical fouls and enemies, by being a defensive pest on the perimeter. Being able to bother and irritate any offensive player while standing all of 6’1, 180-lbs is absolutely a skill and one that Anfernee Simons desperately needs to add to his game.

Beverley’s wingspan helps him to be able to poke the ball free and bother shooters by interfering with their vision. That’s no excuse for Simons’s complete lack of defense though, as his arms extend further than Pat Bev’s, 6’9 to 6’7.

Simons has all the tools to be an effective perimeter defender. His freakishly long wingspan along with his 6’4 stature provides a wiry frame to be able to contain any ballhandler. His athleticism should allow him to glide effortlessly around the perimeter to pick up and disrupt opposing guards and wings.

Unfortunately, through three seasons, he hasn’t shown the defensive discipline or effort to be a viable stopper. Those two aspects, more than anything, make Beverley the shutdown artist that he is.

This single clip might embody Patrick Beverley’s spirit more than any other play can capture any other player. Watch how his feet never stop chopping as he slides over to help on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander before coming back to his man, George Hill, and eventually poking the ball free. Then, even as he’s recovering from his spill, he lunges again to complete the steal and start the fast break the other way.

If Ant Simons can even duplicate 70 percent of the energy that Beverley displays game-in and game-out, he’ll be an exponentially better defender.