Trail Blazers are at a crossroads with Anfernee Simons and Nassir Little

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Anfernee Simons, Facundo Campazzo, Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

The cases for and against trading Anfernee Simons

Anfernee Simons is a budding guard with skills perfectly curtailed to thrive in today’s game: the ability to play on and off the ball, a picture-perfect deep stroke, and groundbreaking athleticism.

There’s no doubt that Simons would command a pretty hefty return in a trade, especially since whichever team holds his contract at the end of this season can re-sign him with his Bird rights.

Pros for trading Simons:

Depth at the guard position – Between Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Norman Powell, Tony Snell, Ben McLemore, and Dennis Smith Jr., the Blazers have six other rostered players capable of playing guard aside from Simons.

Of course, it has to be taken into consideration that CJ McCollum would likely be moved as well if the Blazers are to make a substantial trade this season. That being said, though, the Blazers depth at guard is still much stronger than at the forward position.

More trade value – At this current point in their careers, Simons would likely hold more value in a trade than Little. Ant is further along in his development and could contribute immediately on any given team.

Defensive impact – Although Ant has made strides on defense, he’s clearly the weaker defender compared to Nas. He has great length for a wing, but is still only 6’3, a measurement that Portland has plenty of on their squad.

Cons for trading Simons:

Risk vs. Reward – Ant would command more value in a trade, because he has the much higher floor as a player than Nas does. Even if his growth stagnates, Simons already has the skills to be a starting guard in this league. Most likely, he’ll continue to refine the more technical aspects in his game — defensive positioning, finishing at the rim, advanced playmaking, and filling out his body — and further elevate his ceiling.

Trading Simons over Little right now would be choosing to trade the better overall player at this juncture.

Offensive Fit – Simons has been a godsend for the Trail Blazers thus far, coming in off the bench to provide sparkplug scoring, seemingly always getting hot when Portland needs it the most.

He’s been by far the most reliable deep shooter on the team, stroking nearly 43 percent of his 4.4 3-point tries a game.

Replacing Ant’s microwave ability to heat up and his impeccable catch-and-shoot numbers will be a tall task if he’s traded away.