Now isn’t the time for the Blazers to consider moving Anfernee Simons

Anfernee Simons was a popular trade candidate throughout the offseason. Fans and analysts were constantly involving him in hypothetical trade packages to teams like the Orlando Magic, who need a combo guard who is a lights-out shooter. There's always a possibility that Blazers GM Joe Cronin will ultimately decide to move Simons before February's trade deadline. But those talks have died down a month into the 2024-25 season.

The Trail Blazers' backcourt predicament

The central premise of potentially trading Simons was to make room for the Blazers' two most important rebuilding pieces, Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe. Simons is more talented than Scoot at this point in their respective careers. However, the Blazers have no playoff expectations this season, especially in the cut-throat Western Conference. So, it presented a problem for both Cronin and head coach Chauncey Billups.

The easiest way to answer that riddle was to move on from Simons. He was previously mentioned as a top ten trade asset this past summer as someone who is just about to enter his prime at 25 years old and, on a reasonable contract, owed $25.9 million this season and $27.7 million in 2025-26. But trading away Simons no longer appears to be in the Blazers' best interest.

Why Portland should keep Anfernee Simons (for now)

Simons' trade value may have taken a hit

Simons hasn't been playing well lately, battling an illness and now having a sprained right hand. During the season, he's averaging just 15.5 points per game, roughly seven fewer points than last year. The Blazers haven't seemed to take a significant step back in games he's missed either, which could hinder his trade value if teams question whether or not he's impactful on winning enough to trade away significant assets for him.

Blazers still need shooting

However, that's not the main issue. If Cronin decides to trade away Simons, he's still likely going to find multiple suitors, as shooting is a premium in today's NBA, and few do it better than Simons. But the Blazers themselves need shooting almost as much as any team in the league. They finished dead last in the league last year and are third worst at 32.2 percent so far this season. Do they really want to make such a significant weakness even worse?

Scoot Henderson's inconsistent play

Most concerningly is Henderson's play. He had a promising start to the season but has been wildly inconsistent to the point where it's fair to wonder whether or not he should truly be considered Portland's long-term point guard or, at the very least, no longer a foundational building block.

Henderson has been given plenty of opportunities in an increased role, with Sharpe and Simons missing games, but he hasn't taken advantage of them. He's averaging just 11.3 points, 5.2 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.2 turnovers in 25.9 minutes per game on inefficient 41/28/82 shooting splits. With three-point shooting being such an area of weakness for Portland, it will be hard to justify moving on from Simons, a career 38.2 percent three-point shooter, for Henderson, currently a liability from beyond the arc.

The Blazers' confidence meter regarding Hernderson's long-term outlook has to be much lower than what it was when they selected him No. 3 overall, or even compared to his strong finish to his rookie season. As a result, they need to keep Simons around as an insurance policy.