The Portland Trail Blazers will be looking very different in season 2023-24. After a long, arduous summer waiting to find out if their star of the past decade, Damian Lillard, would find a new home, he was eventually sent to the Bucks in exchange for Jrue Holiday – who was subsequently shipped to the Celtics.
The result is that the Blazers have a host of new players, namely two new centers in Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams. What they also have is a young and talented back court, and Lillard's absence opens the door for one or multiple of those guards to take a giant leap forward this year.
Portland will be hoping number three pick Scoot Henderson will have an immediate impact, while Shaedon Sharpe will also be expected to take a step forward after a solid first season in the league. But it's their more experienced counterpart in Anfernee Simons who, after five seasons in the league and with the keys to the team now his, who looks best placed to take a leap from a good NBA player to a legitimate star.
Anfernee Simons is poised to take a giant leap in 2023-24
Anfernee Simons is no secret. His prodigious scoring ability was obvious relatively early on in his career, but it was in his fourth season that he really started to make his mark on the league, jumping from 7.8 points per game to 17.3 while improving his field goal percentage and hitting over 40% from downtown. Last season was his best yet; he averaged 21.1 points to go with a career-high 4.1 assists, and that was with Lillard playing alongside him.
New Blazers recruit Scoot Henderson will undoubtedly take a fair chunk of the load left by Lillard, but as readymade an NBA player as he looks like being, he will still be in just his first season in the league. That means Simons will be getting both more looks at the basket and more playmaking opportunities, opening the door for him to take a significant step forward and become a genuine All-Star candidate in 2023-24.
Taller than he looks at nearly 6'3″ and still just 24 years of age, it's all ahead of the 24th draft pick from the 2018 draft. He will this season be the leader of this team, responsible for a large chunk of the scoring load and equally responsible for ensuring the involvement of his two new talented big men, both of whom are capable finishers but a little less inclined to find their own shot, particularly Williams.
The 16.9 shots he took last season was the most of his career; expect that to jump up to closer than 20 this season. The 21.1 points per game those shots led to also came while he shot only – only being a relative term – 37.7% from downtown; the two previous seasons he hit 42.6% and 40.5%. He's capable of being more efficient than he was last season even with more shots, and a scoring average in excess of 25, and even potentially closer to 30, is not beyond the realms of possibility. Add to that the likely growth of his developing playmaking skills, and he could easily be a player who this season averages at least 26 or 27 points and five or six assists.
Anfernee Simons playing well won't exactly shock anyone, but the magnitude of the step forward he's capable of taking certainly might. From a talented protege to Damian Lillard, he will this season be given the reigns for the Blazers, and it could well lead to him being a surprise candidate in All-Star discussions come the beginning of next year.
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