Buy or sell: Portland Trail Blazers preseason takeaways

Portland Trail Blazers preseason takeaways to buy

1. Anfernee Simons can be a playmaker in the NBA

Through one offseason, Anfernee Simons has greatly improved his ball-handling, his vision, and most importantly, his approach to the game.

It was clear that Billups wants and expects Simons to be the floor general for the second unit. And Simons was able to answer that call so far.

In the first contest against the Golden State Warriors, Simons tallied six assists in 20 minutes and didn’t commit a single turnover. In the next game against the Sacramento Kings, Ant was moved into the starting lineup. While he only had one assist that night, he continued to attack the rim and act as a playmaker, rather than just a shooting specialist.

Watch here as he uses a variety of advanced dribble moves to take a young, talented defender in Davion Mitchell all the way to the hole before finishing strong.

Simons finished this game, his last in the preseason, with 24 points, including seven free throws, on just one made 3-pointer.

This development in his game is crucial to Simons’s future in the NBA and to the Portland Trail Blazers title chances. I’m all in on the prospect of Ant becoming an elite offensive combo guard, sooner rather than later.

2. Dennis Smith Jr. has an NBA future

Dennis Smith Jr. took full advantage of his training camp deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, continued to impress in the preseason, and ultimately earned a guaranteed contract for the 2021-2022 NBA season.

In the final preseason game against the Warriors, Dennis Smith Jr. started the game and finished with seven points and seven assists in 32 minutes.

DSJ still needs to work on his finishing and jump shot, but it’s clear that he’s still more than athletic enough to impact this game in a positive way.

With Simons’s previously mentioned improvements, DSJ likely won’t play much for the Blazers next year, but it’s clear that he should be an NBA player.

3. Jusuf Nurkic will breakout under Chauncey Billups

Both new Head Coach Chauncey Billups and Jusuf Nurkic have spoken about how this upcoming season could and should be a breakout year for the Bosnian Beast.

Long have we watched as Nurk was underutilized under Terry Stotts and his skills often misused.

With Billups’s motion offense, Jusuf could be the key to the Blazers success, operating out of the high-post to find open shooters and cutters. Billups seems determined to put the ball in Nurkic’s hands and unlock him as a playmaking big.

Proof of this lies in the nine deep attempts that Nurk took in four preseason games.

Nurkic has been flirting with expanding his range for a few years now, but has yet to crack two 3-point attempts per game. Becoming a floor-spacing big would allow him to draw his defender, the opponent’s rim protector, out to the 3-point line, opening up space for Nurk to find cutters in the paint.

Jusuf only made two of his nine 3-pointers in the preseason, but that’s beside the point. It’s clear that Billups intends to operate more of the offense through Nurkic.

I am completely buying that the Bosnian Beast is more than ready to play a larger role within the team, and that the Blazers will be better off for it.