Portland Trail Blazers: 5 players who need a big final stretch after hiatus

Anfernee Simons:

The next player off the bench who needs to have a big last month is Anfernee Simons. The second-year man has benefitted from the spate of injuries suffered by the Trail Blazers this season.

His points per game average have increased from 3.8 to 8.8 points per game this season. This has risen in conjunction with his minutes per game. In his rookie year, Simons averaged 7.1 minutes per contest. This season he is averaging 21.5 minutes per game.

Unfortunately, his shooting percentages have not increased as required in his second year. He is shooting at 40.2 percent from the field on 8.4 shot attempts. During his rookie year, Simons averaged 44.4 percent on 3.2 shot attempts.

Simons shot 34.5 percent on 1.5 shot attempts in his rookie year. This season he is shooting 33.8 percent on 3.4 shot attempts. This is not good enough but assuming that we get more of the NBA season, he will have a chance with most of the squad back to raise his game.

The Trail Blazers have shown that they cannot rely on just McCollum and Lillard alone to get them through. The support of the bench, particularly the guards who can give the stars extended minutes on the bench.