Should the Portland Trail Blazers build around Anfernee Simons?

The case for the Trail Blazers to build around Simons

Quite simply, Simons is proving that he can handle the scrutiny and the pressure of being one of the team’s core players. Simons may look back on January 2022 as the most important month of his career.

It’s worth noting that this didn’t come entirely out of the blue. This is the kind of play the Trail Blazers were expecting from Simons when he was a late first-round pick in 2018.

He went to IMG Academy for a post-graduate year, meaning he never played college ball or in the G-League; Simons was always going to be a developmental prospect.

And Simons flashed the occasional potential in his first three seasons in the league. He averaged 8.3 points off the bench in his second season. Simons averaged less in his third season, but he shot a remarkable 42.6 percent from three-point range.

Simons is really coming into his own this year, though. He’s averaging 15.8 points per game, almost double his previous best. He’s still scorching from three-point range, hitting 40.8 percent of his attempts, and he’s become a better passer too, averaging 3.7 assists per game. His win share total has already exceeded his previous career-high, and the season is barely halfway through.

Because of how he came into the NBA, Simons is still young enough to improve even more, despite this being his fourth season in the league. The guard won’t turn 23 years old until after the season, meaning he could still be years from his best performances. That has to have the Trail Blazers’ front office salivating.

McCollum and Lillard are both on the wrong side of 30. The amount of promising young players on the roster is relatively thin. If there’s anyone to give the franchise hope for the future, it’s Simons.