All in!! Anfernee Simons 2.0

[Skybox]

Regarding Simons' big upcoming raise ...if multiple teams were in hot pursuit, he'd have been moved over a year ago.

I think everyone sees the same concerns we do on here...there has to be significant interest by others to make an overpay necessary (unless you're Fultz, Cole, WCJ, Isaac, etc)

There's zero fact to back this comment up. All indications from anyone close to the team is the Blazers have never seriously considered moving Simons.

The only time the Blazers considered moving him was pre the 2023 draft when they were "supposedly" looking to make a major trade to appease Dame Lillard before the trade demand. Outside of that, there's never been any serious rumblings that Cronin is looking to move Simons.

There was even a full team report from the Blazers beat writer that Cronin has been in contact with Simons to check if he wants to be moved, but Simons says he doesn't right now and Cronin therefore hasn't been shopping him. So yeah.... there's no evidence that comment is remotely true and plenty of evidence straight from the mouths of the GM and Simons that the opposite is.

Not wanting Simons or others is fine, but no need to make stuff up about it. It's fine to stick to reports and known facts.

I DO want Simons and there are quite a few POR fans hanging around the ORL (and POR) threads who feel differently about Simons' tenure in POR...especially since Sharpe and Scoot came to town and winning was swapped out for a rebuild. Just logic and fairly common discussions about a highly-compensated marginal guy who will be up for a new deal just as POR hopes to get above sea level. I think he's a very effective offensive player, but somewhat inflated stats due to his situation. Just fine for a roster like ORL's, but he's not going to be scoring 25ppg on a good team - but I think he'd be happy contributing to meaningful wins on a good young team that's a couple of steps ahead of POR. I'm also really liking POR's status, for the most part, as they gather and sift through young talent. Hopefully they find a unifying Coach like Mosley who helps create an identity and a winning culture.

Good guys - both players and FO rarely talk about making people available or wanting out. It's unprofessional and tough to come back from if things change...Pat Riley's definitely not moving Butler...he said it.

[basketballRob]

I'd be okay with Simons if he agreed to an extension around $15m per season when he gets his extension this summer. He's probably going to want $30+m.

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM mobile app

[RichCollab]

Regarding Simons' big upcoming raise ...if multiple teams were in hot pursuit, he'd have been moved over a year ago.

I think everyone sees the same concerns we do on here...there has to be significant interest by others to make an overpay necessary (unless you're Fultz, Cole, WCJ, Isaac, etc)

There's zero fact to back this comment up. All indications from anyone close to the team is the Blazers have never seriously considered moving Simons.

The only time the Blazers considered moving him was pre the 2023 draft when they were "supposedly" looking to make a major trade to appease Dame Lillard before the trade demand. Outside of that, there's never been any serious rumblings that Cronin is looking to move Simons.

There was even a full team report from the Blazers beat writer that Cronin has been in contact with Simons to check if he wants to be moved, but Simons says he doesn't right now and Cronin therefore hasn't been shopping him. So yeah.... there's no evidence that comment is remotely true and plenty of evidence straight from the mouths of the GM and Simons that the opposite is.

Not wanting Simons or others is fine, but no need to make stuff up about it. It's fine to stick to reports and known facts.

I was pretty sure I read it during the off-season and the fact they didn’t want to pay the luxury tax. I did attempt to find the article but wasn’t able too.

Maybe I did make it up? I apologize if I was misleading.

[Skybox]

I'd be okay with Simons if he agreed to an extension around $15m per season when he gets his extension this summer. He's probably going to want $30+m.

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM mobile app

I think KCP range is appropriate (for Simons, maybe not KCP)...$22m

but we don't need to worry about that now. Just get him in town and he'll be fine.

[RichCollab]

“Anfernee Simons, Trail Blazers: Come on Orlando, you know you want to throw a bunch of picks at Portland for Simons. It's one of the most obvious fake trades on the board. The Blazers are tanking and have two other young guards in place in Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson. The Magic have everything they need to contend except for a guard-sized shot-creator. Sadly, Sharpe and Henderson aren't progressing as hoped, so the need to move Simons for their sake is minimal.”

[JRoy]

Sharpe is doing fine but Scoot stinks.

[basketballRob]

Sharpe is doing fine but Scoot stinks.

I think they are both doing great.

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM mobile app

[Rainwater]

The last time we were super patient with a pg we drafted his name was Elfrid

If AB isn't starting in year 3 at some point, then its time to make some decisions.

Yeah, every move the Magic have made makes it seem like Black is the future PG. Didn’t pursue a pg in the offseason and signed KCP to a short term contract.

[eyriq]

The last time we were super patient with a pg we drafted his name was Elfrid

If AB isn't starting in year 3 at some point, then its time to make some decisions.

Yeah, every move the Magic have made makes it seem like Black is the future PG. Didn’t pursue a pg in the offseason and signed KCP to a short term contract.

Yup, been saying this since we drafted him

[Rainwater]

Regarding Simons' big upcoming raise ...if multiple teams were in hot pursuit, he'd have been moved over a year ago.

I think everyone sees the same concerns we do on here...there has to be significant interest by others to make an overpay necessary (unless you're Fultz, Cole, WCJ, Isaac, etc)

There's zero fact to back this comment up. All indications from anyone close to the team is the Blazers have never seriously considered moving Simons.

The only time the Blazers considered moving him was pre the 2023 draft when they were "supposedly" looking to make a major trade to appease Dame Lillard before the trade demand. Outside of that, there's never been any serious rumblings that Cronin is looking to move Simons.

There was even a full team report from the Blazers beat writer that Cronin has been in contact with Simons to check if he wants to be moved, but Simons says he doesn't right now and Cronin therefore hasn't been shopping him. So yeah.... there's no evidence that comment is remotely true and plenty of evidence straight from the mouths of the GM and Simons that the opposite is.

Not wanting Simons or others is fine, but no need to make stuff up about it. It's fine to stick to reports and known facts.

Cronin was the same dude that told season ticket holders that they weren’t going to trade Dame. I don’t see how Simons stays on that team long term especially with Scoot there. What would make things more complicated is if Portland got the 2nd pick and were forced to pick Harper.

[Skybox]

If Simons is untouchable and Scoot is terrible, ORL will take Scoot off your hands I have faith that Scoot's efficiency will come around...he can still put up points and playmake and that's really what ORL needs in the second unit. I love Scoot's aggression and explosiveness and I can't unsee how he held his own vs Wemby as teenagers. I see a JV-level WestBeast in the making.

POR sends: Scoot Henderson
ORL sends: Cole Anthony, 2 srps...or, twist my arm, DEN 25 frp

[DusterBuster]

Sharpe is doing fine but Scoot stinks.

I think they are both doing great.

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM mobile app

Uhhh, have you watched Scoot play basketball?

[DusterBuster]

Regarding Simons' big upcoming raise ...if multiple teams were in hot pursuit, he'd have been moved over a year ago.

I think everyone sees the same concerns we do on here...there has to be significant interest by others to make an overpay necessary (unless you're Fultz, Cole, WCJ, Isaac, etc)

There's zero fact to back this comment up. All indications from anyone close to the team is the Blazers have never seriously considered moving Simons.

The only time the Blazers considered moving him was pre the 2023 draft when they were "supposedly" looking to make a major trade to appease Dame Lillard before the trade demand. Outside of that, there's never been any serious rumblings that Cronin is looking to move Simons.

There was even a full team report from the Blazers beat writer that Cronin has been in contact with Simons to check if he wants to be moved, but Simons says he doesn't right now and Cronin therefore hasn't been shopping him. So yeah.... there's no evidence that comment is remotely true and plenty of evidence straight from the mouths of the GM and Simons that the opposite is.

Not wanting Simons or others is fine, but no need to make stuff up about it. It's fine to stick to reports and known facts.

Cronin was the same dude that told season ticket holders that they weren’t going to trade Dame. I don’t see how Simons stays on that team long term especially with Scoot there. What would make things more complicated is if Portland got the 2nd pick and were forced to pick Harper.

And at that point he was telling the truth, Dame hadn't asked for a trade when he made those comments.

Cronin made it clear he wouldn't trade Dame without a trade demand.

Think what you will on Cronin as a GM, but he's been honest to a fault. He's also not shown a lot of willingness to take big swings unless his hand is forced. He doesn't seem to want to trade players without the players input and involvement. He is deferential to a fault with the players, even being willing to take worse deals for the team to get players to where they want to go (this is a backed up fact reporting with the previous trades involving CJ and Norm Powell).

I understand how you would think that from afar, but as someone who's followed the Blazers and Cronin much closer, I can promise you don't have all the facts quite straight or are missing some key context.

[DusterBuster]

If Simons is untouchable and Scoot is terrible, ORL will take Scoot off your hands I have faith that Scoot's efficiency will come around...he can still put up points and playmake and that's really what ORL needs in the second unit. I love Scoot's aggression and explosiveness and I can't unsee how he held his own vs Wemby as teenagers. I see a JV-level WestBeast in the making.

POR sends: Scoot Henderson
ORL sends: Cole Anthony, 2 srps...or, twist my arm, DEN 25 frp

Yeahhhhhh... you'll be in for a disappointment... That was most Blazer fans hope too, but so far he hasn't shown even a fraction of the dedication and fire than Westbrook has to the game.

Good example... the dude had a terrible rookie year by all measure compared to hype. Players with drive would have spent all summer working on their game, but according to the trainers and coaches who worked with him this summer, that never happened... then he came to Media Day high as a **** kite, speaking slow with bloodshot eyes and saying how his favorite thing about his rookie year was "the food". Just wildly unprofessional.

So Scoot has simply not put the work in to really improve his game, he's still making the same out of control plays and sloppy footwork he did his rookie year, which, at this point you would expect to have improved at least a little. It's bad and even the hope of a JV Westbrook is looking out the window at this point.

I still question if those issues wouldn't tighten up if he was simply allowed to play through the problems and be getting some self-confidence in a starting role and a coach who'd be more of a teacher than prioritizing winning games like Billups is... but regardless the cause, those issues are here and they're bad.

[Skybox]

If Simons is untouchable and Scoot is terrible, ORL will take Scoot off your hands I have faith that Scoot's efficiency will come around...he can still put up points and playmake and that's really what ORL needs in the second unit. I love Scoot's aggression and explosiveness and I can't unsee how he held his own vs Wemby as teenagers. I see a JV-level WestBeast in the making.

POR sends: Scoot Henderson
ORL sends: Cole Anthony, 2 srps...or, twist my arm, DEN 25 frp

Yeahhhhhh... you'll be in for a disappointment... That was most Blazer fans hope too, but so far he hasn't shown even a fraction of the dedication and fire than Westbrook has to the game.

Good example... the dude had a terrible rookie year by all measure compared to hype. Players with drive would have spent all summer working on their game, but according to the trainers and coaches who worked with him this summer, that never happened... then he came to Media Day high as a **** kite, speaking slow with bloodshot eyes and saying how his favorite thing about his rookie year was "the food". Just wildly unprofessional.

So Scoot has simply not put the work in to really improve his game, he's still making the same out of control plays and sloppy footwork he did his rookie year, which, at this point you would expect to have improved at least a little. It's bad and even the hope of a JV Westbrook is looking out the window at this point.

I still question if those issues wouldn't tighten up if he was simply allowed to play through the problems and be getting some self-confidence in a starting role and a coach who'd be more of a teacher than prioritizing winning games like Billups is... but regardless the cause, those issues are here and they're bad.

Send that loser over ...Mosely's boot camp and Suggs' fire might just wake him up.

[DusterBuster]

If Simons is untouchable and Scoot is terrible, ORL will take Scoot off your hands I have faith that Scoot's efficiency will come around...he can still put up points and playmake and that's really what ORL needs in the second unit. I love Scoot's aggression and explosiveness and I can't unsee how he held his own vs Wemby as teenagers. I see a JV-level WestBeast in the making.

POR sends: Scoot Henderson
ORL sends: Cole Anthony, 2 srps...or, twist my arm, DEN 25 frp

Yeahhhhhh... you'll be in for a disappointment... That was most Blazer fans hope too, but so far he hasn't shown even a fraction of the dedication and fire than Westbrook has to the game.

Good example... the dude had a terrible rookie year by all measure compared to hype. Players with drive would have spent all summer working on their game, but according to the trainers and coaches who worked with him this summer, that never happened... then he came to Media Day high as a **** kite, speaking slow with bloodshot eyes and saying how his favorite thing about his rookie year was "the food". Just wildly unprofessional.

So Scoot has simply not put the work in to really improve his game, he's still making the same out of control plays and sloppy footwork he did his rookie year, which, at this point you would expect to have improved at least a little. It's bad and even the hope of a JV Westbrook is looking out the window at this point.

I still question if those issues wouldn't tighten up if he was simply allowed to play through the problems and be getting some self-confidence in a starting role and a coach who'd be more of a teacher than prioritizing winning games like Billups is... but regardless the cause, those issues are here and they're bad.

Send that loser over ...Mosely's boot camp and Suggs' fire might just wake him up.

Florida definitely doesn't have as good of weed as Oregon, so there is that?

Not sure a boot camp is what Scoot will respond to. He just needs some reps and self confidence back. If he were just allowed to play 30min a game, play through some bad games for 2-3 months, I think you'd see improvement and more engagement.

By this summer, it might require a change of scenery, so something to keep an eye on if you're a team that might still want to kick the tires.

[Skybox]

Yeahhhhhh... you'll be in for a disappointment... That was most Blazer fans hope too, but so far he hasn't shown even a fraction of the dedication and fire than Westbrook has to the game.

Good example... the dude had a terrible rookie year by all measure compared to hype. Players with drive would have spent all summer working on their game, but according to the trainers and coaches who worked with him this summer, that never happened... then he came to Media Day high as a **** kite, speaking slow with bloodshot eyes and saying how his favorite thing about his rookie year was "the food". Just wildly unprofessional.

So Scoot has simply not put the work in to really improve his game, he's still making the same out of control plays and sloppy footwork he did his rookie year, which, at this point you would expect to have improved at least a little. It's bad and even the hope of a JV Westbrook is looking out the window at this point.

I still question if those issues wouldn't tighten up if he was simply allowed to play through the problems and be getting some self-confidence in a starting role and a coach who'd be more of a teacher than prioritizing winning games like Billups is... but regardless the cause, those issues are here and they're bad.

Send that loser over ...Mosely's boot camp and Suggs' fire might just wake him up.

Florida definitely doesn't have as good of weed as Oregon, so there is that?

I was THIS close to making a POR weed joke...but didn't know my audience

[DusterBuster]

Send that loser over ...Mosely's boot camp and Suggs' fire might just wake him up.

Florida definitely doesn't have as good of weed as Oregon, so there is that?

I was THIS close to making a POR weed joke...but didn't know my audience

Lol, its a point of pride there so you're all good.

On this topic, one of the local media guys in Portland, Danny Marang, who works for the Blazers and a local sports radio station had a small off-handed comment about Scoot. This guys a bit of a blowhard, but he's around the team almost daily and has been for 5+ years now, so he's connected and if he's making comments like this, it's probably because of what he's hearing around the team...

Dusty: You got contributions from all the guys that will be here long-term; Scoot, Shae, Deni. (in reference to last nights win in New Orleans)

Danny: I don't know if Scoot will be here long-term... Uuummmm... but...

Nothing more was expanded on that comment or circled back to.

[Rainwater]

There's zero fact to back this comment up. All indications from anyone close to the team is the Blazers have never seriously considered moving Simons.

The only time the Blazers considered moving him was pre the 2023 draft when they were "supposedly" looking to make a major trade to appease Dame Lillard before the trade demand. Outside of that, there's never been any serious rumblings that Cronin is looking to move Simons.

There was even a full team report from the Blazers beat writer that Cronin has been in contact with Simons to check if he wants to be moved, but Simons says he doesn't right now and Cronin therefore hasn't been shopping him. So yeah.... there's no evidence that comment is remotely true and plenty of evidence straight from the mouths of the GM and Simons that the opposite is.

Not wanting Simons or others is fine, but no need to make stuff up about it. It's fine to stick to reports and known facts.

Cronin was the same dude that told season ticket holders that they weren’t going to trade Dame. I don’t see how Simons stays on that team long term especially with Scoot there. What would make things more complicated is if Portland got the 2nd pick and were forced to pick Harper.

And at that point he was telling the truth, Dame hadn't asked for a trade when he made those comments.

Cronin made it clear he wouldn't trade Dame without a trade demand.

Think what you will on Cronin as a GM, but he's been honest to a fault. He's also not shown a lot of willingness to take big swings unless his hand is forced. He doesn't seem to want to trade players without the players input and involvement. He is deferential to a fault with the players, even being willing to take worse deals for the team to get players to where they want to go (this is a backed up fact reporting with the previous trades involving CJ and Norm Powell).

I understand how you would think that from afar, but as someone who's followed the Blazers and Cronin much closer, I can promise you don't have all the facts quite straight or are missing some key context.

I just disagree with this take, the writing was all over the wall that Dame was gone. The heat literally prepared a deal at the time knowing he was gone. The Blazers essentially pushed him out by going young. There is no way Cronin didn’t know.

I am not saying this because I like Simons but it just makes no sense for the Blazers to not trade Simons. If it doesn’t happen this year it’s happening next year before his contract is up. Given the current state of the blazers they aren’t going to resign him and they aren’t just going to let him expire. So they will likely trade. It may not be the magic but it will be somebody.

[DusterBuster]

Cronin was the same dude that told season ticket holders that they weren’t going to trade Dame. I don’t see how Simons stays on that team long term especially with Scoot there. What would make things more complicated is if Portland got the 2nd pick and were forced to pick Harper.

And at that point he was telling the truth, Dame hadn't asked for a trade when he made those comments.

Cronin made it clear he wouldn't trade Dame without a trade demand.

Think what you will on Cronin as a GM, but he's been honest to a fault. He's also not shown a lot of willingness to take big swings unless his hand is forced. He doesn't seem to want to trade players without the players input and involvement. He is deferential to a fault with the players, even being willing to take worse deals for the team to get players to where they want to go (this is a backed up fact reporting with the previous trades involving CJ and Norm Powell).

I understand how you would think that from afar, but as someone who's followed the Blazers and Cronin much closer, I can promise you don't have all the facts quite straight or are missing some key context.

I just disagree with this take, the writing was all over the wall that Dame was gone. The heat literally prepared a deal at the time knowing he was gone. The Blazers essentially pushed him out by going young. There is no way Cronin didn’t know.

I am not saying this because I like Simons but it just makes no sense for the Blazers to not trade Simons. If it doesn’t happen this year it’s happening next year before his contract is up. Given the current state of the blazers they aren’t going to resign him and they aren’t just going to let him expire. So they will likely trade. It may not be the magic but it will be somebody.

This isn’t a take… it’s what was reported and the full timeline of what happened from those who experienced it first hand…

I agree with you and if I were in charge, that would happen (trading Simons), but literally everything said and actions made from Joe Cronin back up what I explained in the other post.

And again, your timeline of events is simply incorrect. You can say "the writing was on the wall" all you want, but that isn't backed up by any truth. Dame was with Cronin pre-draft and was at all the Blazers workouts for potential picks at #3. The two were in constant contact about trade offers that were being made for the pick. He wanted to keep Dame and Dame was looking for a reason to stay up until the night of the draft when they made the pick instead of trading it for help. That was Dame's red line, Cronin didn't find a deal he liked and decided to make the pick.

That doesn't make anything he said pre-draft to Dame, to the media, or to fans / season ticket holders a lie.

Again, this isn't "my take", this is fact of the timeline of what happened and you're wrong about it. It's ok to be wrong.