3 Portland Trail Blazers who could break out in 2022

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Jusuf Nurkic, Anfernee Simons, Portland Trail Blazers, injury (Photo by Soobum Im/Getty Images) /

1. Anfernee Simons

Anfernee Simons has been with the Blazers since he was drafted 24th overall back in 2018, and while his first three seasons were slow going, he improved in each of them, he broke out in a big way in 2021, with a career year across the board. Without Lillard, someone needed to step up and take the role of lead scorer, Simons averaged 17.3 PPG, and with Dame back in 2022, there’s a chance that he can get even better, and the Blazers are banking on it.

With Lillard back and Jerami Grant joining the squad via trade, Simons will become the third option as an offensive threat, but there’s no reason why he can’t step up to 20 PPG, and with his length at the two-guard, he could certainly make an impact on both ends of the floor.

If the Blazers want to be genuine playoff contenders in 2022, they’ll need a solid third option, and while Jusuf Nurkic’s 13-15 PPG is a solid contribution, Simons has the ability to be just as good next to Dame as C.J. McCollum was, and we need to see more of that in 2022. He’s still just 23-years of age, so he has plenty of time to develop in the NBA, but a breakout season this year could lead to one of the best guard pairings in the NBA, and could lead the Blazers to anywhere between a 6 and 10 seed in 2022.