2. Shooting Guard: Anfernee Simons
While the Blazers have plenty of young talent on this team, they’re relying on one name in particular to step up and take his game to the next level, and that’s Anfernee Simons, who already took a huge leap forward during the 2021-22 season, but now, with Damian Lillard back, it’s time to see if he can step his game up and contribute to a winning team. Simons recorded a career high in PPG (17.3), APG (3.9), RPG (2.6) and logged a career high in MPG (29.5), and now, Portland are relying on him to take the step from prospect with plenty of potential, to genuine contributor who will likely play 30+ minutes a night.
The 24-year old already has four years experience at the NBA level, and if he takes the step needed, this backcourt will become very dangerous, and if he can improve as a shooter on the outside, this is a team that should be able to contend with the best in the West.
Simons was passed up with 23 other selections in the 2018 NBA Draft, and such savvy drafting is paying off for the Blazers, as his development is seen as one of the biggest reasons why this team was comfortable trading All-Star C.J. McCollum away a year ago. Now, Simons needs to cash in on that potential, and with Lillard by his side, this could be the season that everything finally comes together for this backcourt, and this team that are due to make a deep run through the playoffs.