Roy The Natural wrote:tiderulz wrote:A BETTER DJ wrote:I really don't think Orlando wants Simons at all. Isn't he rated like last as far as defense? I think we will go for someone not quite as good a shooter but much better on D.
i think this gets overblown some. Portland has had a reputation for awhile now of not great defense. People said the same thing about CJ McCollum and Lillard, but CJ is doing fine with the Pelicans. Is he a defensive stopper? no. But with the defensive mindset and scheming in Orlando, I believe Mosely can turn him into a passable team defender, which playing next to Suggs is all that would be needed. If Orlando goes for someone like KCP, all we are getting is an older version of Suggs with less ball handling.
To add on to this. I don't want to give the false impressions that Simons is a good defender or anything. But he has the athletic tools to be solid on that end, and he DOES try. He's not out there just not even trying. I think he can become an average defender, especially if he has the players around him to allow him to cover opponents poor offensive players.
Nope. Simons is a historically bad defender. The data suggests he has the worst defense of any player this decade.
I will admit your point that he has the tools, which makes his historically bad defense even more confounding.
Fortunately, with this FA signing, Simons is off the table for the Magic and this "trade for Simons" proposals will go away.