The Blazers could make the play-in tournament this season due to Anfernee Simons rise as one of the leagues best young offensive talents
Even without C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard, the Trailblazers should be able to get into the play-in tournament because of Simons' stellar play
Advanced statistics used in this article are from StatMuse.com, NBA.com, and ESPN.com.
The Portland Trailblazers have grown accustomed to being in the playoffs, making it the past eight seasons, but this year will undoubtedly be different whether they make the playoffs or not simply because this is a completely different team. Damian Lillard is expected to be out for the rest of the regular season at least and probably for the playoffs (if they can slide in) as well.
The Trailblazers traded their second-best player in C.J. McCollum to the Pelicans for Josh Hart and future draft picks as the front office felt there was a need for a change. They also traded arguably their 4th and 5th best players, Norman Powell and Robert Covington to the Clippers for a package centered around Keon Johnson, the 21st overall pick in last year’s draft.
All of these moves were made to free up tons of cap space to sign the best players to surround Damian Lillard this offseason. The Trailblazers front office gave up on this year by making all of the moves so they could be best set up for a future built around Damian Lillard. However, the players on this roster certainly still think this season is in play and are doing everything they can to make a run.
Jusuf Nurkic is dominating on offense and getting a lot of rebounds as well, and role players such as Ben McLemore, Trendon Watford, Elijah Hughes, Nassir Little (who is hurt right now), and new Trailblazers Justice Winslow and Josh Hart are all making a serious difference and playing good basketball.
However, even with all of those players contributing, no one has contributed to the Blazers’ success more so than Anfernee Simons, who has taken over the reins as the point guard with Lillard out. Simons is averaging 22.4 points, 5.9 assists, and 2.9 rebounds per game, with an eFG% of 57.6, a TS% of 60, and a 3PT% of 41.3 over his past 25 games and has an overall eFG% of 56, a TS% of 58.2, and a 3PT% of 40.3 on the season as a whole.
C.J. McCollum being traded and Damian Lillard being out has been a blessing in disguise for the Trailblazers as Anfernee Simons has blossomed into one of the league’s best young offensive players already and has the Blazers in a position to make the play-in tournament as the 10 seed.
Simons has had a steady progression from 3PT range over the past couple of seasons as entered the league a 34% 3PT shooter his rookie season. However, Simons then made the jump to being a consistent 40%+ 3PT shooter over the next two seasons. Simons only averaged 7.8 points and 1.4 assists last season, but still had an eFG% of 56.9, a TS% of 58.9, and a 3PT% of 42.6 even with limited minutes, which shows you how efficient Simons has always been and how he could thrive with increased usage.
It was only a matter of time before Simons put the league on notice and now with Lillard being out and McCollum and Powell being gone, Simons has stepped up and shown people how good he is with a serious usage rate and being a big part of the offense. Simons studied under Damian Lillard for three years learning the game and is now turning into a “mini” Lillard of himself being able to put up 30+ points and 5+ assists on numerous occasions.
Although no one is expecting Anfernee Simons, Jusuf Nurkic, and a bunch of role players to win a play-in game or multiple to get into the playoffs, just getting into the play-in will be a huge success for what this organization has gone through this year. Although many Blazers fans were sad to see McCollum and Powell go, it allowed Simons to fully flourish as the team’s best player and give them hope for the future with a ton of cap space, some good young players, and a multitude of picks as well.