Anfernee Simons Articles - Page 4

The Portland Trail Blazers may have struggled in 2021-22 in what was essentially a rebuilding year in a sense, but Anfernee Simons proved that he could be Damian Lillard’s next co-star after the departure of CJ McCollum. Heading into restricted free agency this summer, the Blazers are expected to retain the young guard. But, it […]

The Portland Trail Blazers are in the midst of a retooling around Damian Lillard. The Blazers shipped away CJ McCollum, Norman Powell and Robert Covington last season, and they just made a move to acquire Jerami Grant this offseason. Joe Cronin and Co. then selected Shaedon Sharpe with the No. 7 pick instead of trading […]

The Portland Trail Blazers already made a splash this offseason by trading for Detroit Pistons star Jerami Grant. Now, they look ahead to retaining a couple of key free agents: Jusuf Nurkic and Anfernee Simons. As Marc Stein notes, there is expected to be no shortage of interest in the Blazers duo. However, both are […]

Kevin Durant grew closer with Damian Lillard last suymmer while leading Team USA to gold at the Tokyo Olympics, and still has a public, personal affinity for the Pacific Northwest well more than a decade after being drafted by the Seattle Supersonics. Still, odds of the two-time Finals MVP putting the Portland Trail Blazers on […]

The Portland Trail Blazers have already been linked to every major name who could be changing teams this summer. Zach LaVine and Bradley Beal could be the star Portland so desperately wants to pair with Damian Lillard. Jerami Grant and OG Anunoby are the versatile three-and-D forwards who’d give the Blazers some much-needed point-of-attack defense. […]

The Utah Jazz once again failed to meet their postseason aspirations. Despite not having Luka Doncic for the first three games of the series, the Dallas Mavericks were still able to boot out the Jazz in a convincing fashion. The Jazz have made the NBA Playoffs for the past six seasons but have failed to […]

Damian Lillard’s pointed demands for an improved supporting cast have still yet to be addressed. It has been almost a year since the most loyal superstar in basketball threatened to leave Rip City, and all the Portland Trail Blazers have to show for it is the mere possibility of finally meeting his mandate. CJ McCollum […]

The Portland Trail Blazers’ immediate focus once the regular season mercifully comes to a close on Sunday will be the NBA draft. Locked into the league’s sixth-highest lottery odds, Portland is guaranteed a top-10 pick and could net a second lottery selection if the New Orleans Pelicans are ousted from the play-in tournament. But with […]

One week after finally admitting Damian Lillard’s season was over, the Portland Trail Blazers clarified the status of two other franchise pillars who have been sidelined with nagging injuries. The Blazers announced on Monday that Anfernee Simons (left knee patellar tendinopathy) and Jusuf Nurkic (left foot plantar fasciitis) would miss the remainder of 2021-22. Some […]

Anfernee Simons’ may have already played his last game in 2021-22. The Portland Trail Blazers announced last Friday that he’d be “re-evaluated in 1-2 weeks” after an MRI confirmed a prior diagnosis of mild patellar tendinopathy in his left knee, but the organization’s brazen efforts to tank suggest Simons is likelier to take the floor […]

The injury-ravaged Portland Trail Blazers are signing veteran guard Kris Dunn to a 10-day contract, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Sunday. The Trail Blazers are signing guard Kris Dunn to a 10-day hardship deal, sources tell ESPN. Dunn gives the Blazers some backcourt depth with Anfernee Simons out 1-to-2 weeks. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March […]

The last time Anfernee Simons took the floor was the last time the Portland Trail Blazers actually looked like they belong in the NBA. That’s not a criticism of the second-round picks, undrafted free agents and G-League call-ups who have comprised Portland’s woefully depleted roster over the last few days, or even an aspersion on […]

The Portland Trail Blazers have had a rough go this season and the chaos just won’t stop. This franchise could be entering a rebuild in the upcoming offseason with Anfernee Simons as a potential building block. However, for Portland’s next game, they will be without their young rising star. According to Casey Holdahl, Anfernee Simons […]

Officially, the Portland Trail Blazers are still leaving the door open for Damian Lillard to return before season’s end. The team announced late last month that Lillard had passed the “initial phase” of rehabilitation from mid-January surgery on his abdomen, and would soon begin the “reconditioning phase” of his recovery. The first week of March […]

The Portland Trail Blazers entered their two-game set with the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center one-and-a-half games back of the final spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament. Portland would be underdogs no matter what with Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic sidelined, but at least Minnesota’s absences—Anthony Edwards and Patrick Beverly missed Saturday’s game—ensured it […]

The Portland Trail Blazers are one of the more stable playoff teams in the NBA. Well, at least, they were up until this season. The Blazers entered 2021-22 having made the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest active streak in the NBA. But they traded away C.J. McCollum, Norman Powell and other key contributors […]

The Portland Trail Blazers finally ran out of gas in the fourth quarter on Saturday night, falling to Karl-Anthony Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves 135-121. Don’t mistake another double-digit loss, Portland’s fourth straight, for any of its more lopsided predecessors, though. Not only did the Blazers put up a hard road fight against a quality […]

Chris Paul is out at least another month with a broken right thumb, and Devin Booker entered health and safety protocols hours before tipoff. Even with their opponent absent both members of basketball’s best backcourt, though, the depleted, rebuilding Portland Trail Blazers were still sent to a third straight blowout loss. The Phoenix Suns routed […]

Anfernee Simons is the light at the end of the tunnel for the Portland Trail Blazers. Amid an injury-riddled season and constant roster churn, the young point guard is showing flashes of brilliance on a consistent basis. His 17.1 points, 3.9 assists and 3.1 triples per game are all career-highs by a wide margin. According […]

The Portland Trail Blazers made the decision to split up the franchise’s longtime backcourt tandem of CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard at the NBA trade deadline. While McCollum was a fan favorite, the decision to trade him to the New Orleans Pelicans was one that had to be made, especially amid the emergence of Anfernee […]

So much for consternation over a wholly transformative trade deadline. Instead of reeling from finally breaking up its longtime core, the Portland Trail Blazers entered the All-Star break winners of four straight games, playing with activity and intensity that had often been absent during Chauncey Billups’ inaugural season on the sidelines. The Blazers can’t count […]

The 2021-22 NBA season is officially past its halfway mark and the race towards the postseason is now on. With this in mind, basketball card collectors are looking forward to knowing who’s going to end up with the major awards in the league. While everyone is looking forward to the MVP race, the fight for […]

Anfernee Simons didn’t quite see the gravity of his breakout season coming. Entering his fourth NBA season firmly behind Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum in the Portland Trail Blazers’ backcourt, he expected to play a supporting role for a contender instead of cementing himself as a budding star with Lillard watching from the sidelines and […]

When it comes to the 2018 Draft Class, the obvious guys to get in the hobby are Luka Doncic and Trae Young cards. To an extent, one could score great deals on Collin Sexton or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander stocks in the market. But among these players, there’s one option that’s slowly making noise out there – […]

CJ McCollum may no longer be with the Portland Trail Blazers, but he remains supportive of the team and his former teammates as they try to navigate the season without their stars. In fact, he recently showed love to rising star Anfernee Simons, who has taken over for Portland amid Damian Lillard’s injury and McCollum’s […]

The Portland Trail Blazers finally tore it down at the trade deadline, sending out C.J. McCollum and three other impact veterans in a series of moves that placed the organization’s focus firmly on next season. Don’t tell that to Chauncey Billups and his team’s new-look locker room, though. Rejuvenated by the additive presence of Josh […]

Mere moments after the most transformational trade deadline in franchise history, interim general manager Joe Cronin all but confirmed what the Portland Trail Blazers’ series of cost-cutting, win-later moves meant for Damian Lillard over the season’s remainder. Portland’s superstar point guard would “most likely” sit out until 2022-23, Cronin said at a post-deadline press conference, […]

Jusuf Nurkic, Anfernee Simons and the new-look Portland Trail Blazers have definitely earned a week-long vacation. Portland will embark on the All-Star break as perhaps the hottest team in basketball, winners of four straight games after taking down the Memphis Grizzlies in a hard-fought, highly entertaining 123-119 victory on Wednesday at FedEx Forum. Memphis entered […]

Anfernee Simons dropped 30-plus points for the third straight game on Monday, the longest streak of his burgeoning career, leading the new-look Portland Trail Blazers to a blowout road victory over the defending-champion Milwaukee Bucks. He made NBA history, too, hitting seven triples against Milwaukee to set a new record for the most made threes […]

Winning isn’t exactly the top organizational priority in Rip City after a truly transformational trade deadline. Nobody seems to have told Anfernee Simons, Josh Hart, Jusuf Nurkic and the re-invigorated Portland Trail Blazers, though. Portland routed the Milwaukee Bucks 122-107 on Monday at Fiserv Forum, winning its third straight game since overhauling the roster last […]

Josh Hart had barely been in Portland for more than 24 hours when he took the floor at Moda Center on Saturday noon. Just after his standout debut with the Portland Trail Blazers, though, it’s more than safe to say Rip City is just as excited about Hart’s new future as he is. Invigorated by […]

It’s barely been more than 48 hours since the Portland Trail Blazers broke up the most successful, productive backcourt in franchise history. After his sorely depleted team’s stirring win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night, though, Chauncey Billups implored fans in Rip City to dream of new possibilities awaiting the Blazers with a […]

LeBron James and Anthony Davis didn’t exactly bring it, and several players who were pivotal for the Portland Trail Blazers almost certainly won’t be on the roster when this team is really trying to win. Don’t dismiss the long-term significance of Portland’s stirring 107-105 win over the sinking Los Angeles Lakers despite the unique circumstances […]

Already the league’s most active trade partner, the Portland Trail Blazers still may not be done dealing leading up to Thursday afternoon’s deadline. Indeed, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported in the immediate wake of Portland sending C.J. McCollum to the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday that interim general manager Joe Cronin and the front office are […]

The Portland Trail Blazers’ primary goal in Friday’s shocking trade with the LA Clippers was saving money. They not only ducked below the luxury tax this season, making the franchise and billionaire owner Jody Allen subject to the most lucrative distribution of tax penalties in league history, but also shaved considerable money off their books […]

The Portland Trail Blazers traded two key pieces on Friday in Norman Powell and Robert Covington. That could just be the start, though. CJ McCollum has seen his name being involved in trade talks over the last week and there is reportedly a firm belief amongst league executives that Portland will move him either by […]

The move the Portland Trail Blazers are more likely to make than any other at the trade deadline won’t address their most obvious, big-picture need. But shedding just over $3 million worth of salary by February 10th to duck the luxury tax and receive part of the most lucrative distribution from taxpaying teams in league […]

The Portland Trail Blazers used isolation basketball to pull away from the worst team in the Western Conference on Friday night. After the Houston Rockets suddenly pulled within six as the game clocked ticked below five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, C.J. McCollum and Anfernee Simons mercilessly matchup-hunted for Garrison Mathews in pick-and-roll, clearing […]

Chauncey Billups called timeout with 5:29 remaining in Friday’s game, his team at real risk of squandering what seemed like an insurmountable lead after Jalen Green’s step-back three pulled the Houston Rockets within six. The Portland Trail Blazers hadn’t encountered much trouble running roughshod over the Western Conference’s worst team, but some ugly turnovers and […]