All in!! Anfernee Simons 2.0

[byeganyo]

I like Simons but he is having an abysmal season, maybe if we wait a bit more we can get him just for a salary dump.
for sure he is not getting a salary raise if he stays at portland and has these numbers.

[BadMofoPimp]

After watching Simons this season so far, I think people here overrate him. He has nights like last night where he went 2-9FG with 0-4 from the 3 with 4 turnovers. He isn't that great of a facilitator. Just a better version of Cole for sure. He can be can score at times, but he doesn't push the needle in Portland. I already think Black is going to be better in within the next year.

but who else is he playing with there? does anything move the needle with that team?

I'll take a "better version of Cole"...just what we need. Especially one with enough offensive fire to help fill the gap while Paolo is out and the skillset to blend right back in when he returns. He hits more 3's on a bad night than Cole on a good night...and he has less bad nights. So much nitpicking with this guy. We're not going to trade for Donovan Mitchell...your realistic targets are Simons, Schroder, Sexton-level guys. IF you're going to dissect Simons to this level, who on ORL is truly more valuable? Just 3 guys(arguably) and ALL of them will have much bigger deals than Simons next year. Simons is not a savior, he's a role player on our roster, with the opportunity to be more.

IF you're giving KCP $22m to be Okogie/Okoro/NAW...Simons is a steal. IF Mo is $11m and Cole is $13m, Simons is underpaid.

No team is going to trade for a $25 mil bench player. Suggs would still start and Simons is one dimensional. That is why nobody traded for him.

[zaymon]

I am curious how much Suggs is worth on his contract let alone Simons. From finanse reasons i would not take Simons even for free.

[J-Mezzy]

Nice guy

Holds a camp here every year

Not worth the contract

[three3d]

Let’s fire this back up lol, Simons is putting up numbers to pay attention too

[RichCollab]

Let’s fire this back up lol, Simons is putting up numbers to pay attention too

Is it leading to consistent wins? How is his defense?

[three3d]

Let’s fire this back up lol, Simons is putting up numbers to pay attention too

Is it leading to consistent wins? How is his defense?

How is Caleb Houston’s defense, how’s CoJo’s defense? It’s not strictly about defense, defense helps win games of course BUT at the end of the day you don’t win if you can’t score. Anyone ever see a team win a game with a
0-0 score? If you hold a team to 89 points but can’t score at least 90 yourself it didn’t matter. Sometimes a good defense is a really good offense.

[RichCollab]

Let’s fire this back up lol, Simons is putting up numbers to pay attention too

Is it leading to consistent wins? How is his defense?

How is Caleb Houston’s defense, how’s CoJo’s defense? It’s not strictly about defense, defense helps win games of course BUT at the end of the day you don’t win if you can’t score. Anyone ever see a team win a game with a
0-0 score? If you hold a team to 89 points but can’t score at least 90 yourself it didn’t matter. Sometimes a good defense is a really good offense.

Both players make like 2 to 3 million a year and sit on the end of the bench. Not sure they are the right players to point out.

Caleb has been getting more steal including one that lead to a layup and changed momentum of a game.

[VFX]

Simons is nearly $26m and isn't starting on this team unless you believe KCP is coming off the bench.

No.

[eyriq]

I like the idea! He's overpaid, drastically, and should be available for pennies on the dollar. We have pennies to spare. Do they want cap space? Moe, Caleb, and Harris are all expiring contracts. Not sure what the deal is, I wouldn't really pay a lot for someone who is overpaid and not a lock to make our 2027 team.

[DusterBuster]

I like the idea! He's overpaid, drastically, and should be available for pennies on the dollar. We have pennies to spare. Do they want cap space? Moe, Caleb, and Harris are all expiring contracts. Not sure what the deal is, I wouldn't really pay a lot for someone who is overpaid and not a lock to make our 2027 team.

He's not overpaid and Simons has been coming on a lot lately... admittedly had a slow start to the year, but he's absolutely not overpaid at only like 25ish mil a year, not in todays NBA for a guy who can score like he can.

Thaaaaat said, I would move him to Orlando on the cheap to get a deal done. I say that not for any reason of Simons' talent, play, contract, etc... I say that (and my posts on the Blazer board back this up) because the Blazers desperately need to **** or get off the pot with Scoot Henderson. They need to open up the starting role and see what he can do after how heavily they invested in him by making that pick (3rd overall, considered a "cant miss prospect" pre-draft, and drafting him caused Dame to demand out).

The Blazers current situation is absolutely untenable for Scoot and as bad as Scoot has looked, the Blazers have given him zero chances to develop because of a poorly constructed roster around him and a coach that hates developing players because of the losing that brings. Moving Simons fixes one of those two problems for Portland. Worst case scenario, Scoot may still be a bust and the Blazers will have given away Simons on the cheap, but at least they would have an answer for what Scoot is - one way or another.

I don't know your teams roster super well, so forgive me if I don't know who's highly rated or who's not on the Magic... my best uneducated guess based on stats is that Cole Anthony and Gary Harris are probably expendable pieces... Those two for Simons works salary-wise. With trades being relatively difficult to make these days, the simplest deals with the fewest amount of players moving are usually the most likely.

So those two players and a single heavily protected 1st rounder - maybe the worst of the Magic's 2 FRPs they have in 2025 (their own or Denver) - would be plenty for Simons imo (can't speak for the Blazers FO tho). Anthony and Harris are both considerably worse players than Simons (by a significant amount) so I do believe a FRP would be required for Portland to make up the difference, but it wouldn't be a FRP of significance and could be highly protected to ensured its in the 16-30 pick range and that it conveys right away so it's not a pick obligation that hangs over the Magic's head for years and years.

[DusterBuster]

Let’s fire this back up lol, Simons is putting up numbers to pay attention too

Is it leading to consistent wins? How is his defense?

Man... you can't look at Simons and bash him for that if you know anything about this current Blazers roster and coaching situation...

This Blazer roster is a hot mess of weird pieces, injuries and a disinterested bad lame-duck coach who tried to force his way out of town via the media last summer.

Simons is a good starter on a team where he's not the best player. The Magic truly are a great landing spot for them, he would take so much pressure off of Franz and Paolo. It's the role he should be in, 3rd best, and he's paid fairly for that when you consider a guy like KCP gets 22mil.

As for the "well no one has traded for him yet" argument that someone else made, that's also pretty silly and misinformed. The reality is the Blazers haven't seemed to even be looking to shop him. The Blazers GM loves Simons as a player and according to a recent article by Blazers beat writer Jason Quick (The Athletic), Cronin seems to only be interested in trading Simons if he asks to be moved.

Simons so far - on record in that article - has said he hasn't asked to be moved, he said he isn't there yet. So until Simons changes his tune, the reality is that I seriously question if the Blazers are considering moving him (even though I personally wish they would be proactive and do it for Scoot's benefit).

[Skybox]

Let’s fire this back up lol, Simons is putting up numbers to pay attention too

Is it leading to consistent wins? How is his defense?

Better than anyone on ORL's offense

[Idiosyncratic]

Let’s fire this back up lol, Simons is putting up numbers to pay attention too

Is it leading to consistent wins? How is his defense?

Man... you can't look at Simons and bash him for that if you know anything about this current Blazers roster and coaching situation...

This Blazer roster is a hot mess of weird pieces, injuries and a disinterested bad lame-duck coach who tried to force his way out of town via the media last summer.

Simons is a good starter on a team where he's not the best player. The Magic truly are a great landing spot for them, he would take so much pressure off of Franz and Paolo. It's the role he should be in, 3rd best, and he's paid fairly for that when you consider a guy like KCP gets 22mil.

As for the "well no one has traded for him yet" argument that someone else made, that's also pretty silly and misinformed. The reality is the Blazers haven't seemed to even be looking to shop him. The Blazers GM loves Simons as a player and according to a recent article by Blazers beat writer Jason Quick (The Athletic), Cronin seems to only be interested in trading Simons if he asks to be moved.

Simons so far - on record in that article - has said he hasn't asked to be moved, he said he isn't there yet. So until Simons changes his tune, the reality is that I seriously question if the Blazers are considering moving him (even though I personally wish they would be proactive and do it for Scoot's benefit).

I do think it is an interesting question though, because here our team is winning games at a better rate than a lot of these no-defense combo guards win at when their full team is healthy. Not an apples to apples comparison, but there's a reason these non-defending volume shooters are considered one of the least valuable archetypes in the league. His contract is massive considering that.

And to take it a step further, Simons in advanced on/off stats and traditional plus/minus rates poorly the last two years. That is among his own teammates, who all play with the same terrible coach (totally agree with you here btw he's bad) and with the same terrible roster.

I actually am pro-Simons for the Magic at the right price, because I think he has potential to be a special shooter, although it hasn't led to great efficiency yet: career 56.6 TS% average for a 2 guard is 57.1. I just want to play devil's advocate and show that the other viewpoint is probably also a fair one.

[RichCollab]

Let’s fire this back up lol, Simons is putting up numbers to pay attention too

Is it leading to consistent wins? How is his defense?

Better than anyone on ORL's offense

Shooting comes and goes. Effort and intense defense is all about that individual buys into. Give me what we are focused on as you can control the outcome.

[Skybox]

Is it leading to consistent wins? How is his defense?

Better than anyone on ORL's offense

Shooting comes and goes. Effort and intense defense is all about that individual buys into. Give me what we are focused on as you can control the outcome.

Defense is reliable but limited on it's own...Simons has been as consistent a scorer as anyone...Just look at his career stats - particularly the last few years when he wasn't playing in Dame and CJ's tremendous shadow...you're just digging your heels in. This whole "defense is everything" is ridiculous. You don't have to watch a whole lot to see how a little more (or, in Simons' case- a lot more) firepower off the bench would blow open so many of these close games.

these stifling, boa constrictor defense, upset victories are fun - but do nothing to make us less beatable. IF Cole Anthony is here to bail us out, we're in trouble. If Trev Queen is even being sized for a sweater vest, we're in trouble. Nice stories and happy to have them on the end of the bench, grateful for an NBA min deal...Add a real scorer and suddenly we're favorites and we start winning games wire-to-wire...even playoff matchups.

[DusterBuster]

Is it leading to consistent wins? How is his defense?

Man... you can't look at Simons and bash him for that if you know anything about this current Blazers roster and coaching situation...

This Blazer roster is a hot mess of weird pieces, injuries and a disinterested bad lame-duck coach who tried to force his way out of town via the media last summer.

Simons is a good starter on a team where he's not the best player. The Magic truly are a great landing spot for them, he would take so much pressure off of Franz and Paolo. It's the role he should be in, 3rd best, and he's paid fairly for that when you consider a guy like KCP gets 22mil.

As for the "well no one has traded for him yet" argument that someone else made, that's also pretty silly and misinformed. The reality is the Blazers haven't seemed to even be looking to shop him. The Blazers GM loves Simons as a player and according to a recent article by Blazers beat writer Jason Quick (The Athletic), Cronin seems to only be interested in trading Simons if he asks to be moved.

Simons so far - on record in that article - has said he hasn't asked to be moved, he said he isn't there yet. So until Simons changes his tune, the reality is that I seriously question if the Blazers are considering moving him (even though I personally wish they would be proactive and do it for Scoot's benefit).

I do think it is an interesting question though, because here our team is winning games at a better rate than a lot of these no-defense combo guards win at when their full team is healthy. Not an apples to apples comparison, but there's a reason these non-defending volume shooters are considered one of the least valuable archetypes in the league. His contract is massive considering that.

And to take it a step further, Simons in advanced on/off stats and traditional plus/minus rates poorly the last two years. That is among his own teammates, who all play with the same terrible coach (totally agree with you here btw he's bad) and with the same terrible roster.

I actually am pro-Simons for the Magic at the right price, because I think he has potential to be a special shooter, although it hasn't led to great efficiency yet: career 56.6 TS% average for a 2 guard is 57.1. I just want to play devil's advocate and show that the other viewpoint is probably also a fair one.

That's a fair devil's advocate, however, to that I would say again to look at coaching and roster composition. 2 years ago was when they started the post-Dame era. Billups, being the god awful coach he is, has even to this day not changed how he coaches the offense given the new roster he has. He treats Simons like he's Dame, which Simons is not, never has been, never will be.

And again, I really think Simons' best role is as a 3rd option guy, not a first or even second offensive option. He can be that on nights for a team certainly, especially when he gets hot, but regularly I'm not so sure he can sustain being that level of option and have a team that wins at a high level.

I also think it's important to look at what doesn't show up on the stat sheet, the human component of it. The Blazers have been a losing franchise for almost 4 seasons straight now. More than half of Simons' career. The article I referenced also had very candid quotes from Simons about how difficult it's been to be on this Blazers roster over the last 3-4 years as they've been doing this weird ass mix of retooling and rebuilding. He openly admits in the article he has his good days and his "human" (bad) days where he's down about the situation - which does lead to bad/off games. I think he needs a fresh start somewhere and it would show up as better efficiency.

[RichCollab]

Better than anyone on ORL's offense

Shooting comes and goes. Effort and intense defense is all about that individual buys into. Give me what we are focused on as you can control the outcome.

Defense is reliable but limited on it's own...Simons has been as consistent a scorer as anyone...Just look at his career stats - particularly the last few years when he wasn't playing in Dame and CJ's tremendous shadow...you're just digging your heels in. This whole "defense is everything" is ridiculous. You don't have to watch a whole lot to see how a little more (or, in Simons' case- a lot more) firepower off the bench would blow open so many of these close games.

these stifling, boa constrictor defense, upset victories are fun - but do nothing to make us less beatable. IF Cole Anthony is here to bail us out, we're in trouble. If Trev Queen is even being sized for a sweater vest, we're in trouble. Nice stories and happy to have them on the end of the bench, grateful for an NBA min deal...Add a real scorer and suddenly we're favorites and we start winning games wire-to-wire...even playoff matchups.

Edit: 5th quarter? That’s even to much BS for me.
We blow these games in the 4th quarter with our defense even missing our top 4 scoring players.

[DusterBuster]

Shooting comes and goes. Effort and intense defense is all about that individual buys into. Give me what we are focused on as you can control the outcome.

Defense is reliable but limited on it's own...Simons has been as consistent a scorer as anyone...Just look at his career stats - particularly the last few years when he wasn't playing in Dame and CJ's tremendous shadow...you're just digging your heels in. This whole "defense is everything" is ridiculous. You don't have to watch a whole lot to see how a little more (or, in Simons' case- a lot more) firepower off the bench would blow open so many of these close games.

these stifling, boa constrictor defense, upset victories are fun - but do nothing to make us less beatable. IF Cole Anthony is here to bail us out, we're in trouble. If Trev Queen is even being sized for a sweater vest, we're in trouble. Nice stories and happy to have them on the end of the bench, grateful for an NBA min deal...Add a real scorer and suddenly we're favorites and we start winning games wire-to-wire...even playoff matchups.

We blow these games in the 5th quarter with our defense even missing our top 4 scoring players.

You guys get a 5th quarter?!

[Skybox]

Defense is reliable but limited on it's own...Simons has been as consistent a scorer as anyone...Just look at his career stats - particularly the last few years when he wasn't playing in Dame and CJ's tremendous shadow...you're just digging your heels in. This whole "defense is everything" is ridiculous. You don't have to watch a whole lot to see how a little more (or, in Simons' case- a lot more) firepower off the bench would blow open so many of these close games.

these stifling, boa constrictor defense, upset victories are fun - but do nothing to make us less beatable. IF Cole Anthony is here to bail us out, we're in trouble. If Trev Queen is even being sized for a sweater vest, we're in trouble. Nice stories and happy to have them on the end of the bench, grateful for an NBA min deal...Add a real scorer and suddenly we're favorites and we start winning games wire-to-wire...even playoff matchups.

We blow these games in the 5th quarter with our defense even missing our top 4 scoring players.

You guys get a 5th quarter?!

I was hoping you'd take that one...I'm lost