Anfernee Simons Articles - Page 5

All offseason long, rumors were running rampant about the Portland Trail Blazers and the future of franchise star Damian Lillard. Many thought he would end up being traded, but the Blazers were able to keep him in town. Since then, Lillard has made it very clear that he is still loyal to Portland, but that […]

The Portland Trail Blazers lost their fifth straight road game to open the regular season on Friday, falling to the LA Clippers 117-109 at Staples Center. After the game, Chauncey Billups bemoaned his team’s penchant for losing focus on defense away from the friendly confines of Moda Center, remarks echoed by Damian Lillard. The numbers, […]

Anfernee Simons introduced to himself a global audience at last season’s All-Star Weekend, living up to years of local hype by being crowned champion of the slam dunk contest. But what Portland Trail Blazers fans have always known about Simons was surely surprising to those who’d only grown familiar with him from his stunning aerial […]

The Portland Trail Blazers followed up a depressing three-game losing streak with a pair of wins at Moda Center in just over 24 hours. Ten games into the regular season, Chauncey Billups’ team is 5-5, enduring not only completely unforeseen struggles of its best player, but an ongoing investigation into allegations of workplace misconduct against […]

Chauncey Billups wasn’t most frustrated by the Cleveland Cavaliers canning 15 threes en route to 50 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Jarrett Allen’s “monster” 24-point night didn’t draw much ire from the rookie head coach, either. What really left Billups displeased after the Portland Trail Blazers’ loss to the short-handed Cavaliers on Wednesday was […]

The Portland Trail Blazers are heading home to Rip City winless following Wednesday’s disappointing 107-104 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, finishing a quick Eastern Conference road trip 0-3. Here are three key takeaways from another frustrating Blazers defeat. The Wrong Kind of Dame Time Lillard’s fingerprints were all over crunch-time…just not in the way Rip […]

The Portland Trail Blazers squandered a seven-point halftime lead on Sunday, falling to the Charlotte Hornets 125-113 on the first leg of a tough Eastern Conference back-to-back. Here are three takeaways from the Blazers’ Halloween loss to Charlotte, one highlighted by another sinister shooting night from Damian Lillard. Porous Second-Half Defense Portland got control of […]

Almost two weeks into the regular season, the Portland Trail Blazers have been arguably the most volatile team in the NBA. At 3-2 following a pair of impressive double-digit victories over Western Conference playoff hopefuls, though, there’s plenty of reason for optimism in Rip City. Here are three overreactions for Portland based on its first […]

Spurred by an utterly dominant second-half performance on both sides of the ball, the Portland Trail Blazers routed the Memphis Grizzlies 116-96 on Wednesday night at Moda Center. Here are four positives from the Blazers’ impressive victory, which moves them to 2-2 for the 2021-22 season. The Entire Second Half Portland trailed 57-51 at halftime, […]

Portland Trail Blazers’ Anfernee Simons has set the record straight with what he expects from Chauncey Billups as a coach. In his fourth year in the league, Blazers’ Anfernee Simons got the chance to be mentored by NBA legend Chauncey Billups, who is now head coaching for the first time since his retirement. As the […]

PORTLAND — The Portland Trail Blazers got both their first win of the regular season and the Chauncey Billups era in rousing fashion on Saturday night, blowing out the Phoenix Suns 134-105 at Moda Center. Here are four takeaways from Portland’s dominant victory over the reigning Western Conference champions, a game every bit as lopsided as […]

A popular internal talking point from the Portland Trail Blazers before the regular season was the success of their incumbent starting lineup. Whether a subliminal message to Damian Lillard as he pondered leaving Rip City or just more general justification for bringing the band back together, Neil Olshey, Chauncey Billups and even some players championed […]

PORTLAND, Ore. —The clock ran out on the Portland Trail Blazers’ spirited fourth-quarter comeback against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night, with Damian Lillard’s would-be game-tying triple as time expired landing just off the mark. The Blazers fell to the Kings 124-121, a final score that’s hardly an indication of just how much Chauncey Billups’ […]

Candidacy for individual awards couldn’t be further from the Portland Trail Blazers’ minds as they prepare to host the Sacramento Kings. But just because Chauncey Billups, Damian Lillard and company are singularly focused on the task at hand doesn’t mean Blazers fans have better ways to kill time before tipoff of Wednesday night’s game than […]

There’s still time for the Portland Trail Blazers to sign Anfernee Simons to a contract extension. The league-wide deadline to ink fourth-year players still on their rookie contracts to an extension is October 18th, two days before Simons and the Blazers host the Sacramento Kings at Moda Center in the 2021-22 season opener. But the […]

There’s only so much to glean from any preseason basketball game, but especially the Portland Trail Blazers’ exhibition finale. Damian Lillard isn’t playing on Friday night against the Golden State Warriors, and Chauncey Billups, remember, sees all preseason games as nothing more than a glorified extension of training camp practices anyway. No matter what happens […]

PORTLAND — The Portland Trail Blazers tipoff the regular season against the Sacramento Kings back at Moda Center next week, but don’t expect Monday’s game—fortunately for Chauncey Billups’ team—to prove a barbinger for the 2021-22 opener. Here are four observations from the short-handed Blazers’ 107-93 loss to the Kings. Anfernee Simons (Kind Of) Looked The […]

Damian Lillard knew there was something different about Anfernee Simons when the Portland Trail Blazers superstar saw a photo of his young teammate this summer. Suddenly, it was obvious. Simons, ink-less over the first three seasons of his NBA career, had a half sleeve tattoo on his left arm—another step in the 22-year-old’s ongoing growth […]

Anfernee Simons enters 2021-22 coming off a relative breakout season, at least when accounting for the gravity of his struggles over his first two years in the NBA. Fully established as a rotation player with the Portland Trail Blazers now, rookie coach Chauncey Billups is finally affording Simons the opportunity to prove his bona fides […]

Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons set a crazy 3-point stat not even Stephen Curry has done. The Golden State Warriors star is regarded as the greatest shooter of all time, but that doesn’t mean he holds all the records. Simons is now tied for the most 3-pointers made in a row in NBA history. […]

With Damian Lillard returning from an injury that had him briefly sidelined and the acquisition of Norman Powell at the trade deadline, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts is faced with an overflow of options to roll out with his starting lineup for the remainder of the season. Add on that CJ McCollum and […]

Anfernee Simons’ ‘Kiss Dunk’ in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest last Sunday was perhaps the most talked-about throwdown that evening and may have been the main reason for his win. In a recent interview, Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard revealed that he played a key part in prodding Simons to go for the gimmick. […]

Portland Trail Blazers stud Anfernee Simons wasn’t the only one that made headlines on Sunday after the 21-year-old bagged the title for the NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest. His girlfriend, Bre Hudson, also made waves after making a cameo during the highly anticipated Dunk Contest. The folks over on social media were swooning over Simons’ […]

Not many banked on Anfernee Simons to win the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. After all, he’s more known as a shooter with the Portland Trail Blazers. But Simons took home the trophy, proving he doesn’t need the approval of people. Well, maybe except Zach LaVine. In the postgame interview, the 21-year-0ld Simons was asked why […]

For one of his dunks in the NBA Slam-Dunk Contest, Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons channeled his inner Tracy McGrady with an epic 360 slam. Like many have done before, Simons took the effort to bring out a vintage Toronto Raptors McGrady jersey for his slam. The likes of Josh Smith (Dominique Wilkins jersey), […]

The NBA All-Star Game took place on Sunday night- and so did the Slam Dunk Contest in a weird formality. Usually, the pre-game festivities are the day before, but this year has been different and the contest took place at halftime with players performing all kinds of dunks. Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons walked […]

A slot in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest was initially reserved for Los Angeles Lakers guard Alex Caruso. Sadly, fans won’t see the Bald Mamba’s throwdown theatrics as he wants to use the short break for some rest and relaxation. Per Bill Oram of The Athletic, Caruso pointed to the relatively short offseason as his […]

Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons will be participating in his first-ever Slam Dunk competition, and it seems like he’s going to be bringing some help with him. Simons told The Athletic’s Jason Quick that he is probably going to use the assistance of Damian Lillard for one of his dunks. “I will probably use Dame […]

The Philadelphia 76ers-Portland Trail Blazers showdown provided an epic finale after the Blazers’ Anfernee Simons and the Sixers’ Furkan Korkmaz traded clutch shots in the last five seconds of the game. With the Sixers leading by one, 126-125, Simons drained a corner three with 2.2 seconds left to give the Portland the lead. Anfernee Simons. […]

The Portland Trail Blazers are dreaming big coming off a surprise appearance in the Western Conference Finals. But to live up to new expectations of realistic title contentions, a team that has long relied on continuity will have to coalesce into a whole greater than the sum of its parts despite three new starters and […]

The Portland Trail Blazers have picked up Zach Collins’ fourth-year option and Anfernee Simons’ third-year option, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Collins shined last season as a stretch big and a rim defender, posting 6.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks in merely 17.6 minutes per game. Now with Al-Farouq Aminu and Meyers Leonard gone, […]

Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons didn’t see much action in his rookie season. However, the 24th overall pick of the 2018 NBA Draft said he still had a productive year despite sitting on the bench for most games. In an interview with Orlando Sentinel’s Stephen Ruiz, Simons said that he used his time on […]

The Portland Trail Blazers front office has always been very high on  Anfernee Simons. They selected the 6-foot-4 Florida native with the 24th pick in the 2018 Draft even though he did not play at one of the blue blood college schools. Blazers general manager Neil Olshey is confident the decision will pay dividends. As […]

The 2019 NBA Summer League is just about over, and while some players failed to make much of an impact, others took advantage of the opportunity and put themselves on NBA teams’ radars. Here are the five biggest standouts from the 2019 Summer League. 5. Chris Boucher, Toronto Raptors Boucher has been a reserve on […]

NBA Summer League is a launchpad for the youngest players in the league. Typically, Summer League team consists of team’s rookies and second-year players, as well as overseas and G League players fighting to prove they’re worth a roster spot on an NBA team or another overseas franchise.  Every year, players stand out, whether they […]

Portland Trail Blazers sophomore guard Anfernee Simons was lighting up the Utah Jazz in the Las Vegas Summer League before his night took a turn for the worse just moments before the final buzzer sounded. Simons had already scored a league-high 35 points before he turned his ankle late in the fourth quarter. Peter Socotch […]

With NBA free agency just around the corner, the internet and NBA Twitter are thick with unsubstantiated rumors and reports from various sources. However, one interesting piece of news has the ring of truth to it regarding Anfernee Simons and the Portland Trail Blazers. Per Keith Smith of Yahoo, teams have been “calling” the Blazers […]

Kent Bazemore, now of the Portland Trail Blazers, promised to look out for Anfernee Simons after the second-year man allowed him to take jersey no. 24. Simons, who wore no. 24 before Bazemore was sent from the Atlanta Hawks to the Trail Blazers, changed to no. 1 after the trade was sealed. Per Jamie Hudson […]

Last year, the Portland Trail Blazers drafted guard Anfernee Simons with the 24th overall pick, but Simons did not see much action during his rookie campaign, appearing in just 20 games. However, Blazers general manager Neil Olshey has very high hopes for Simons going forward: “It’s kind of all coming together for him,” said Olshey, […]