The Portland Trail Blazers moved arguably their most skilled offensive player this summer, trading Anfernee Simons to the Boston Celtics. With Simons now out of the equation, head coach Chauncey Billups will have to revamp Portland's entire offense.
On media day, Billups emphasized that the Blazers' offense would be less stagnant this season. "A lot more cutting and moving around. Not as much standing around. We'll be better about that, not being as predictable," he said.
There are times when coaches tend to say the right things, and it does not translate to on-court production. But that's not the case here, as Billups will be forced to implement a new offensive system without his combo guard.
And it's possible that the Blazers' offense is actually better off because of it.
What will Portland's offense look like without Anfernee Simons?
Simons had a relative down year, yet still averaged 19.3 points, 4.8 assists, and 2.7 rebounds on 43/36/90 shooting splits. Portland will miss his reliable floor spacing and underrated playmaking, as Simons had the best assist-to-turnover ratio on the roster last season. Those are areas that Portland already needed to address, and those problems will be exacerbated with him now elsewhere. For as solid as Jrue Holiday is on the defensive end, he's arguably an equal downgrade on the offensive end at this point in his career.
So, to compensate for Simon's departure, as well as their overall lack of star power, the Blazers will be forced to play more team basketball.
Simons had a 24.6 usage rate last season, second-highest on the team behind Shaedon Sharpe. Too often, players would stand around and watch him operate at the top of the key. Now, there's more opportunity for others to take on increased offensive roles. Because of that, Portland has several breakout candidates on its roster, including Deni Avdija, Shaedon Sharpe, and Scoot Henderson (when he returns from injury).
Besides more movement in the half-court, another area Portland has emphasized this offseason is transition opportunities. Yes, they've said that in the past, and it hasn't materialized. But things seem different this time with Simons gone.
Part of that can be attributed to Portland's young, athletic pieces becoming more of a focal point in the backcourt. But another factor is that the Blazers are going to be elite defensively without Simons. They ranked as a top ten team defensively down the stretch of last season, which should carry over into this year. They're doubling down on the defensive end, which should also lead to more transition opportunities off of steals and missed shots.
Portland is clearly going to miss Simons in the half-court as a shooter and playmaker, particularly while Henderson is still recovering from his left hamstring tear. However, this could be a case of addition by subtraction simply in terms of improving the way they play without him.
Without an offensive star, Portland will need to win games with its defense, ball movement, and fastbreak points. They already established an identity as a team that wins because of these advantages, and leaned further into that this offseason by strategically moving on from Simons.