Portland Trail Blazers: 5 goals for Anfernee Simons’ rookie season

As one of the least experienced and youngest players in his draft class, what are some goals that Anfernee Simons should have in his first season with the Portland Trail Blazers?

Portland Trail Blazers rookie Anfernee Simons never played a minute of college basketball and was still selected in the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft. He attended IMG Academy as a postgraduate student and was a five-star recruit while in high school. In his one season at IMG, Simons averaged 21.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 0.7 steals per game. He is a scoring guard who can really shoot it, plays defense and has fantastic athleticism.

Simons has been playing well for the Blazers in Summer League and has shown great confidence and patience while on the court. He can handle the ball, create offense and is smart when playing off the ball. He is quick running around screens and is an excellent shooter. Simons has also been playing good defense and doesn’t seem fazed by the high-level competition or older players.

So far this Summer League, he is averaging 11.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 0.6 steals while playing 20.8 minutes per game and shooting 44.4 percent from the field.

He is often the first or second guy off the bench and even started one game. Simons had a 20-point game and only scored less than 10 points once. The way he has been playing has really been surprising, and he could end up seeing minutes for the Blazers this season if he shoots the ball well, doesn’t turn it over and competes on defense.

Rip City has good guards on its roster and probably wwas not planning on having a young rookie see any meaningful minutes this season. But if he continues to play with this level of patience and confidence on both ends of the floor, head coach Terry Stotts may have no choice but to play him. With Simons playing very well so far for the Blazers, here are five goals for his rookie season.