Simons vs Lillard?

[Upperclass]

How does Simons compare as a player to young Damian Lillard? they seem VERRY similar.. but Simons to have slightly better vision and defense? He actually reminds me of Arenas without the strength he had later in his career

[wjun15]

dame played negative defense for about the first 5 years of his career so simons is well ahead even being average defender. shooting is probably similar. Dame always had more range but simons seems to shoot better shots. passing I'll give slight edge to Dame at the same age.

they have some similarities in that both play with composure and aren't overly emotional

[PDXKnight]

Early on, offensively dame was better imo, he started that whole year and made himself known early. To anfernee’s credit he also was much younger as a rookie so there was probably more of an adjustment period. Anfernee this season isn’t far behind dame as a rookie, probably a bit less consistent but nonetheless similar numbers. Passing advantage goes to dame along with getting to the line. Efficiency favors anf slightly maybe due to shot selection

As wjun stated Defensively anfernee shows more skill on the defensive end. Even though he’s not a lock down defender he’s faster and seems to try more on that end of the court which gives him an edge. Really as a young player dame was zero defense. Anf shows potential on d with his speed and quickness, he’s short but seems like he has the physical attributes to be a defensive pain in the butt

[soobias]

just curious but i wonder what this team would've looked like if they did the dame for simmons+thybul+ picks deal
with simmons playing the 4 how we would look defensively .

im not a fan of his leaving his team like that but i understand that doc and embid threw him under the bus.
but anyways i would love to see a team that doesn't do iso ball and plays defense and plays hard for 48 mins .

[Goldbum]

Ant is not short at all for a PG he's close to 6'5" and long. Billups will coach him into a fine defender. His quickness, handle, shot, hops, and ability to manipulate a defense range from excellent to elite.

[BlazersBroncos]

I think Ant and Dame need to be given a chance to play together. Its close to the CJ / Dame pairing, but Ant is much twitchier than CJ and can score better withing the flow, while CJ required ball pounding to be effective on offense.

The handles Hart brings is another big benefit IMO. While Ant isnt a true PG, having him and Hart on the floor when Dame is out will give us enough handles to get by IMO. We didnt have a guy that could fill that 2nd ballhandler role before (Even Norm wasnt the handler / passer that Hart is)

[Blazinaway]

I think Ant and Dame need to be given a chance to play together. Its close to the CJ / Dame pairing, but Ant is much twitchier than CJ and can score better withing the flow, while CJ required ball pounding to be effective on offense.

The handles Hart brings is another big benefit IMO. While Ant isnt a true PG, having him and Hart on the floor when Dame is out will give us enough handles to get by IMO. We didnt have a guy that could fill that 2nd ballhandler role before (Even Norm wasnt the handler / passer that Hart is)

add Winslow to the ball handler/passer group as well

[DusterBuster]

just curious but i wonder what this team would've looked like if they did the dame for simmons+thybul+ picks deal
with simmons playing the 4 how we would look defensively .

im not a fan of his leaving his team like that but i understand that doc and embid threw him under the bus.
but anyways i would love to see a team that doesn't do iso ball and plays defense and plays hard for 48 mins .

I genuinely don’t believe he would have reported. Or it would have been a fight to get him to report at the very least. He made it pretty clear through his reps he didn’t want to play in Portland if Dame wasn’t here.

[DusterBuster]

Would you guys do Dame and the two lottery picks for Mitchell? Rumors he’s not happy in Utah or friends with Gobert. He did an interview with Yahoo and while he downplayed those rumors, he never flat out denied any - in fact pretty much confirmed that he and Gobert don’t get along. Dame is older so Mitchell has move value imo, buttt… if that’s a relationship that’s soon to be ended in Utah, Dame makes a ton of sense for the Jazz. He wants to be there and would be a great fit with Gobert. Ainge isn’t afraid to make a move and i think Mitchell asking out is a real possibility this summer if the Jazz flame out in the playoffs…

[Wizenheimer]

Ant is not short at all for a PG he's close to 6'5" and long. Billups will coach him into a fine defender. His quickness, handle, shot, hops, and ability to manipulate a defense range from excellent to elite.

6'5? wut?

He was measured as 6'2.25 at the draft combine. I know there is all kinds of fictional growth among young NBA plaers but it doesn't happen nearly as often as people claim, and a 6'2.25 guy isn't going to become 6'5. Maybe 6'3 or in a really rare case, 6.3.5

and it sure looks like he has some defensive fiction to go with the growth fiction. Among the rotational players Portland has used this season Ant is last, 16th in defensive rating. In defensive winshares, which is a cumulative stat, Justice Winslow has already matched Ant after 5 games. And in DefBPM, out of those 16 rotational players, Ant is 15th

if he was even average at defense, he'd rank a lot higher in at least one of those defensive metrics

[Blazinaway]

Would you guys do Dame and the two lottery picks for Mitchell? Rumors he’s not happy in Utah or friends with Gobert. He did an interview with Yahoo and while he downplayed those rumors, he never flat out denied any - in fact pretty much confirmed that he and Gobert don’t get along. Dame is older so Mitchell has move value imo, buttt… if that’s a relationship that’s soon to be ended in Utah, Dame makes a ton of sense for the Jazz. He wants to be there and would be a great fit with Gobert. Ainge isn’t afraid to make a move and i think Mitchell asking out is a real possibility this summer if the Jazz flame out in the playoffs…

hold on, we trade Dame and TWO lotto picks for Mitchell? LOL for me and no friggin way

[DusterBuster]

Would you guys do Dame and the two lottery picks for Mitchell? Rumors he’s not happy in Utah or friends with Gobert. He did an interview with Yahoo and while he downplayed those rumors, he never flat out denied any - in fact pretty much confirmed that he and Gobert don’t get along. Dame is older so Mitchell has move value imo, buttt… if that’s a relationship that’s soon to be ended in Utah, Dame makes a ton of sense for the Jazz. He wants to be there and would be a great fit with Gobert. Ainge isn’t afraid to make a move and i think Mitchell asking out is a real possibility this summer if the Jazz flame out in the playoffs…

hold on, we trade Dame and TWO lotto picks for Mitchell? LOL for me and no friggin way

You’re going to have to overpay and I think the value of two late lottery picks isn’t as much as you think.

As good as Dame is, he is 31 coming off a full season pretty much lost to injury and due a very large contract extension soon. That’s going to ding his value when compared to a mid-20s star in his prime on a fair max contract. It’s being naive to not see that.

Now granted… a lot still has to be decided from now til this summer. Where those picks land, if Portland even gets 2 lottery picks and if Utah gets to the WCF and beyond all play major factors and most of that is out of the Blazers control… but if there’s a way to get Mitchell for Dame, even if it required giving up some picks, I would do it.

[Roy The Natural]

Ant is not short at all for a PG he's close to 6'5" and long. Billups will coach him into a fine defender. His quickness, handle, shot, hops, and ability to manipulate a defense range from excellent to elite.

6'5? wut?

He was measured as 6'2.25 at the draft combine. I know there is all kinds of fictional growth among young NBA plaers but it doesn't happen nearly as often as people claim, and a 6'2.25 guy isn't going to become 6'5. Maybe 6'3 or in a really rare case, 6.3.5

and it sure looks like he has some defensive fiction to go with the growth fiction. Among the rotational players Portland has used this season Ant is last, 16th in defensive rating. In defensive winshares, which is a cumulative stat, Justice Winslow has already matched Ant after 5 games. And in DefBPM, out of those 16 rotational players, Ant is 15th

if he was even average at defense, he'd rank a lot higher in at least one of those defensive metrics

I don't think Ant is a good defender or even necessarily average. However, winshares and DRtg are absolute dumpster metrics for defense.

[JRoy]

I have a much lower opinion of Simons than most Blazer fans.

He’s closer to Lou Williams than Lillard.

[Roy The Natural]

I have a much lower opinion of Simons than most Blazer fans.

He’s closer to Lou Williams than Lillard.

I disagree. He may be that now, but his trajectory is good. He's basically Lou Williams at his best, right now... Simons needs to get to the line and to the rim a bit better, and maybe that never happens. However, at his age and experience level, I'd wager he'll take another step forward at some point here.

We all have are evaluations though. I still think your evaluation of Thybulle is entirely off-base.

[BlazersBroncos]

I have a much lower opinion of Simons than most Blazer fans.

He’s closer to Lou Williams than Lillard.

I was of a similar opinion, and while I dont think he is close to Dame he isnt Lou.

I like a taller, overall better Jason Terry (Albeit in todays NBA Terry might be a 22ppg type guy IMO)

[JRoy]

I have a much lower opinion of Simons than most Blazer fans.

He’s closer to Lou Williams than Lillard.

I was of a similar opinion, and while I dont think he is close to Dame he isnt Lou.

I like a taller, overall better Jason Terry (Albeit in todays NBA Terry might be a 22ppg type guy IMO)

I hadn’t heard that comp until now, but it does seem pretty close; a smaller sg with some pg skills.

[JRoy]

I have a much lower opinion of Simons than most Blazer fans.

He’s closer to Lou Williams than Lillard.

I disagree. He may be that now, but his trajectory is good. He's basically Lou Williams at his best, right now... Simons needs to get to the line and to the rim a bit better, and maybe that never happens. However, at his age and experience level, I'd wager he'll take another step forward at some point here.

We all have are evaluations though. I still think your evaluation of Thybulle is entirely off-base.

Let’s disagree about one player at a time

[Roy The Natural]

I have a much lower opinion of Simons than most Blazer fans.

He’s closer to Lou Williams than Lillard.

I was of a similar opinion, and while I dont think he is close to Dame he isnt Lou.

I like a taller, overall better Jason Terry (Albeit in todays NBA Terry might be a 22ppg type guy IMO)

I think he's a more natural passer than Jason Terry. Jason Terry was more CJ-esque with his tunnel vision. Simons is not Chris Paul, but he tends to make the right read and the good pass a lot of the time and keeps his head on a swivel enough to set other guys up.

Interestingly, he might be closest offensively to his coach. Simons has just average-ish handles and doesn't get to the rim super well. But he's a dynamite shooter and has a top 5 floater in the league. At his age, I wouldn't rule out another seismic leap forward. Small improvements on his handles and a bit more craftiness and strength getting to the rim would vault him into a true star. I think both are attainable.

My only big worry currently for him offensively is getting to a better FTr to buoy his off-nights shooting. However, at his age, it's not out of the question that he takes more significant steps forward.

[BlazersBroncos]

I have a much lower opinion of Simons than most Blazer fans.

He’s closer to Lou Williams than Lillard.

I was of a similar opinion, and while I dont think he is close to Dame he isnt Lou.

I like a taller, overall better Jason Terry (Albeit in todays NBA Terry might be a 22ppg type guy IMO)

I think he's a more natural passer than Jason Terry. Jason Terry was more CJ-esque with his tunnel vision. Simons is not Chris Paul, but he tends to make the right read and the good pass a lot of the time and keeps his head on a swivel enough to set other guys up.

Interestingly, he might be closest offensively to his coach. Simons has just average-ish handles and doesn't get to the rim super well. But he's a dynamite shooter and has a top 5 floater in the league. At his age, I wouldn't rule out another seismic leap forward. Small improvements on his handles and a bit more craftiness and strength getting to the rim would vault him into a true star. I think both are attainable.

My only big worry currently for him offensively is getting to a better FTr to buoy his off-nights shooting. However, at his age, it's not out of the question that he takes more significant steps forward.

Really disagree w/ this take but to each their own.

Terry was a 7APG guy in ATL. Even in DAL he was a better passer than Ant.

And Billups had a much bigger frame, and would regularily bully guys in the post + a meh 3PT shot.