Ryen Russillo: "Simons could be a monster"

[zzaj]

Kid has good size, length, is practically made of quick-twitch muscles, gets into his shot lightening-fast and appears to have a good blend of confidence/work ethic. So yeah he has the tools, he could be a monster.

Emphasis on the could however because plenty of young players in this league have had the tools to be monsters. Every off-season we hear how this young player or that young player is going to take the next step and it only happens when it happens. Who knows though, maybe he has been destroying fools in the gym all summer.

Totally true, and there's just a ton of things that go into why a player is successful or not, luck has as much to do with it as skill.

One thing I'll say why there's reason to trust Olshey on this a bit, his background is in player development. I really believe that part of why the Blazers have had such a strong player development team over the past few years is solely because of Olshey and the team he put together for that part of the staff. For all his faults, I think one area it's hard to fault him on is that he has a really keen eye for talent and player development. So if he's this high on a kid, it's not just hyping a player for the sake of pumping up your own guys.

I guess it depends on position...PG? yes. SG? no.

He came in at 6'3.25" with a 6'9.25" wingspan and 183lbs at the combine. Certain transcendent talents can make that kind of frame work as a SG...jury is still out on whether he has that kind of talent.

Good news is he just turned 20. He may have even grown a bit and put on a bit of non-fast twitch muscle this past year. In any case he's going to need every ounce, because trying to finish at the rim at 183lbs against NBA bigs isn't going to work. NBA bigs bench press twice that amount.

I'm not trying to dog on Simons. I think he's got some scoring talent and a fearless attitude, which hopefully will take him a long way. Plus, I'm terrible at knowing if guards will work in the NBA. I'm correct MAYBE 15% of the time.

[Wizenheimer]

Kid has good size, length, is practically made of quick-twitch muscles, gets into his shot lightening-fast and appears to have a good blend of confidence/work ethic. So yeah he has the tools, he could be a monster.

Emphasis on the could however because plenty of young players in this league have had the tools to be monsters. Every off-season we hear how this young player or that young player is going to take the next step and it only happens when it happens. Who knows though, maybe he has been destroying fools in the gym all summer.

at pre-draft, he was measured at 6'.25" w/o shoes...the same height as CJ. He had a 3' wingspan advantage on CJ though, but only a 1.5" advantage over Lillard. Trent was 2" taller and he's about average for a SG

now, it's entirely possible he's grown a little in the last 13 months. Some guys do grow a bit at 19, most don't though. But in an era when CJ, Jamal Murray, Donovan Mitchell, & Bradley Beal have carved out successful careers, not to mention scoring guards like JJ redick and Lou Williams, I'd say he should be fine.

I wish though, just once, we were hearing these things about a young 6'7 Blazer Guard rather than a 6'3 guard

[DaVoiceMaster]

I’m with Sinobas… this has to be coming from the Blazers because who else is watching him at this point? I don’t have a problem with Olshey or whoever pumping him up to the media cuz that’s part of their job to do that. Like Wiz mentioned though, it could have a bad effect on Simons if he does not live up to the hype.

I’m not on the Simons bandwagon just yet. Sure, he played good in the last game of the season, but it was against the Kings and the second half was against their scrubs. Take that for what it’s worth. Prior to that game, he only got scrap minutes and he was a chucker in those minutes. I did like his game in that last game against the Kings, but I’m not going to get overly excited at this point. I hope he becomes a rotational player because the Blazers need their rookies to improve and become rotational players. I didn’t like Layman until last season because he was a shooter who didn’t shoot well. He brought other things to his game last year though which I enjoyed. I hope he continues to improve and can remain in the rotation this coming season (assuming they re-sign him).

[DusterBuster]

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This is about where I want Portland/Olshey to be on Simons.

[Playr2BNamdLatr]

It probably is a source internal to the Blazers, because who else would be seeing Simons at this point?

A lot of time these guys go and play pick up games all over...My guess on the guy giving Russillo the information is Chris Brickley...Simons has already been out there this summer. McCollum previously worked out with him. Simons was committed to Louisville at one point I believe? Brickley played at Lousiville under Pitino. Just connecting the dots.

I really hope Simons can produce and possibly be a better CJ...that is the blazers best chance at moving toward a championship. Makes somebody tradeable for one of the more talentless positions we have.

[JasonStern]

Look, there's three ways to get talent in this league. Free agency, trades, and the draft. We tried free agency in 2016 and it didn't work out. And even if it had - that's not going to be an option for a long time. You don't lose talented, high character people like Dame and CJ on the hopes that you can beat out other teams to find better players. Trust me - most teams would love to be where we are. We are, and will continue to be, opportunistic when it comes to trades. I think the Bazemore trade shows that. So that leaves the draft, and not always mentioned, player development. It's easy if you're picking #1 - take Zion and call it a year. But this is a team that made the Western Conference Finals, so clearly we're picking later. At that point, you have to kind of dodge when others weave. Is the league in search of the next Kawhi, letting proven talent slide? Did other teams not have the opportunity to scout as well as us? You find your edge, then build the best situation for those players to develop. With Dame and CJ, even guys like Nurk, we're not expecting our draft picks to come in and perform on day one, putting them in unwinnable situations. We have a great development staff, and more than that - proven leaders in guys like Dame that are willing to take on mentoring roles to help players strive at the game and at life. If we didn't value our guys, they wouldn't be here. The Swanigan and Stauskas trades prove that. So the idea that a guy like Simons wouldn't be throw-in on a trade shouldn't be news.

[dunlop212]

Lillard was gushing over Simons a week or so ago. It was on a site with a pay wall, so I could not see the whole thing. People are sleeping on this guy because he looks like he's 12 years old.

[zzaj]

Lillard was gushing over Simons a week or so ago. It was on a site with a pay wall, so I could not see the whole thing. People are sleeping on this guy because he looks like he's 12 years old.

Or, it could simply be that he literally has no body of work for any of us to actually base any opinions on.

[d-train]

Lillard was gushing over Simons a week or so ago. It was on a site with a pay wall, so I could not see the whole thing. People are sleeping on this guy because he looks like he's 12 years old.

Or, it could simply be that he literally has no body of work for any of us to actually base any opinions on.

His slight undeveloped body is one reason to be skeptical. And, his lack of experience is another good reason.

[Showdown]

I saw a transcript of what they said about Simons and I have little doubt the source is Olshey

Eh, I didn't get that sense at all listening to it. I don't think Russillo would just parrot back something the team GM said about one of his players.

sorry but any reporter or blogger would repeat what a GM told him, even if it was background or off the record

Ryen: "The reports I'm getting back on Anfernee Simons are through the roof. It's not just talent, but if he puts it together, he's gonna be a monster. That sounds really aggressive but I wouldn't share it unless the guy that told me that has been right almost all the time on players."

Ryen: " I don't know what it is. The guy who told me this about Simons is the same one who was talking about CJ before he blew up.

that absolutely fits Olshey....to a T. Sure, it could be another connected person. But if you think Olshey doesn't talk to media ion background you haven't paid attention to Olshey's relationship with Woj. I'd add that Olshey seems to have a pretty tight relationship with Chris Haynes

With Zach Lowe too

[Sinobas]

Look, there's three ways to get talent in this league. Free agency, trades, and the draft. We tried free agency in 2016 and it didn't work out. And even if it had - that's not going to be an option for a long time. You don't lose talented, high character people like Dame and CJ on the hopes that you can beat out other teams to find better players. Trust me - most teams would love to be where we are. We are, and will continue to be, opportunistic when it comes to trades. I think the Bazemore trade shows that. So that leaves the draft, and not always mentioned, player development. It's easy if you're picking #1 - take Zion and call it a year. But this is a team that made the Western Conference Finals, so clearly we're picking later. At that point, you have to kind of dodge when others weave. Is the league in search of the next Kawhi, letting proven talent slide? Did other teams not have the opportunity to scout as well as us? You find your edge, then build the best situation for those players to develop. With Dame and CJ, even guys like Nurk, we're not expecting our draft picks to come in and perform on day one, putting them in unwinnable situations. We have a great development staff, and more than that - proven leaders in guys like Dame that are willing to take on mentoring roles to help players strive at the game and at life. If we didn't value our guys, they wouldn't be here. The Swanigan and Stauskas trades prove that. So the idea that a guy like Simons wouldn't be throw-in on a trade shouldn't be news.

Did you transcribe a Neil Olshey press conference? That sounds exactly like him.