Anfernee Simons has consistently been one of the worst defenders on the Portland Trail Blazers' roster since entering the league in 2018. Despite his prolific scoring, the Boston Celtics are learning why Portland was so willing to ship him.
Simons recently mentioned to Celtics media that he is learning defensive drills he's never worked on or been taught before.
"Whether it's stabbing at the ball, trying to steal the ball, get in passing lanes, being in the right spot each and every time, that's what we drilled for the first four weeks I was here before training camp," Simons told Noa Dalzell of CLNS Media. "Those things are things I never really worked on or been taught, and so I was happy that that was the focus."
Anfernee Simons' admission proves Blazers were right to move on
Simons is already entering his eighth season in the NBA. How has he never learned how to be in the right spot defensively? These are all very foundational and elementary things to learn, and it should concern Celtics fans, as well as head coach Joe Mazzulla, that he's openly admitting to not knowing the defensive basics.
To Simons' credit, he's coming off a solid preseason game for Boston, in which he recorded 21 points, two rebounds, and two assists on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and 6-of-9 from beyond the arc. That's precisely what he's been doing in Portland, but he should be receiving more national recognition for it this season, assuming he stays in Boston. The Celtics could potentially even be a better fit for him offensively because of their style of play under Mazzulla, leading the league in three-point attempts (48.2 per game) by a wide margin last season.
Still, Boston, of all teams, should know that you primarily win championships on the defensive end.
It's incredibly challenging to construct an elite defense around Simons, especially considering how frequently teams hunt defensive weaknesses and exploit mismatches these days. Because of this, Simons is best suited in a sixth man role as a microwave scorer to bring off the bench. The problem, however, is that his contract is set to expire after the season.
It's difficult to invest so heavily in such a defense liability. The Celtics initially acquired Simons to duck the second apron. Do they really want to revisit their financial challenges to keep someone who is apparently just beginning to learn the basics of defense?
Portland arguably could have traded Simons even sooner than they did to maximize his trade value, but credit general manager Joe Cronin for realizing that the Blazers would never be able to achieve their vision of becoming an elite defensive team as long as Simons was still on the roster.