Hahahaha 1. "Raw player will take time to develop" So to the fucking what? The Blazers weren't drafting at 26 to replace Lillard or McCollum. How often does a late first round draft pick NOT take time to develop? We have two star guards ahead of Simons, and then signed Curry. We have time. He has time. You don't pass on a player you believe to have huge upside to pick one who you believe does not, just because you think the other rookie player "might" contribute off the bench sooner. The Blazers drafted Simons precisely to develop him. I'm quite happy the Blazers didn't follow this guy's reasoning. 2. "Too many small guards on the roster" Anfernee is not a "small guard". He's taller with a longer reach than the three guards who play ahead of him. He's skinny, but he's a teenager, and he'll fill out. If the guy had said: "Too many small guards 'ahead of him' on the roster", he might have had a debatable point. A point however that has nothing to do with whether or not the Blazers should have drafted Anfernee. In short (see what I did there), his argument is not valid. 3. "Didn't play high level competition" So to the fucking what? Neither did Jerome Kersey, who played for Longwood College, in (don't laugh) "Farmville" Virginia. Moses Malone, Kevin Garnett, and Jermaine O'Neal didn't go to college either. 'Nuff said. A player's actual talent, athleticism and mental makeup is not determined by the players on the other team. Does this even need to be explained? 4. "Other players available" LOLOL So much wrong with this. This guy decided the Blazers biggest need was a 3&D wing. And that the Blazers should draft for position over talent. Wrong and wrong. The Blazers biggest need is always the best player they can get. And not just for the short term. The Blazers should have passed on a guy they believed in, and instead should have pick guys who went later, some in the late 30s, because those guys might someday maybe be able to play NBA small forward. Not. Will some players picked later than Anfernee pan out? Probably. Someone always does. So what? Oh and BTW: Trent Jr. fits what this guy described as who the Blazers should have taken instead. So...the Blazers by picking Simons got both. Where's the beef? 5. "Needs to get stronger" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHA! As if Anfernee can't get stronger. WTF? Oh, no: "Simons is going to get pushed around as a rookie." News flash, Simons wasn't even projected to play as a rookie. If he were, The Blazers wouldn't have picked up Curry. Oh, yeah: The Blazers also have Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Does this guy think a late first rounder is going to play ahead of one of those two? Or the veteran backup guard they were ultimately going to sign to fill the position, who ended up being Seth Curry? Obviously anyone who writes sports articles and puts their opinion out there is likely to get flamed from time to time. But for Pete's sake. I rate this guy's analysis: Zero basketballs out of 5.
From RealGM: I had him as the #1 PG in last year's draft class and on par with the elite PGs taken in 2017. Obviously he is blocked and won't prove me right until he has the opportunity to start though. He can score from all three levels, is a very good passer and a willing defender. Like I said before the draft, had he gone to college he would have dominated and been a top pick and likely first PG off the board. Many terrible front offices will have some explaining to do once he's starting and a top 10 PG in the league.
He. Has. To. Play. Until he gets real minutes, what can you say. Not clear to me why Terry never trusted him in real games. I guess he doesn't think he's ready. No other explanation??? He prefers ET more that is for sure.
I think we've kind of seen this treatment from Terry with all our young players the last few years other than Dame, none of them have gotten significant minutes in their first year, some of them even their first two years.
You are not making sense at all in this post. "Never trusted him? Prefers ET? No other explanation?" What are you talking about? "Never trusted him": Rookies that are drafted outside of the lottery have to earn trust. Trust is rarely given to a rookie. "Prefers ET": He is thin as a rail right now and won't be able to successfully defend until he gets stronger. "No other explanation".... Here's one: Seth Curry is better.
I don't like this. It means you have to deal with paying them when their rookie contract expires, without really figuring out their Ceiling.
I kind of understand it though, they've drafted guys that clearly weren't really ready in Zach and Simons the last couple years...
People have forgotten how little our bench was used at all under Nate and even previous Blazer eras....Nate ran our starters into the ground and Jermaine O'neal barely played his rookie years here. He ran BRoy into the ground..Stotts plays more young players and end of the bench guys than most coaches...even in the playoffs...I don't get the narrative that Stotts doesn't play rookies....Dame was a starter under Stotts ….Simons did play...even Skal played. We didn't blow out enough teams in wins to let the bench play the end game last season and we didn't get blown out so they could play when the towel was thrown in...games were pretty close. Bench players have to love being on a Stotts team..if they want to win. Sure they could play on shitty teams and get more court time. That's pretty much where we've picked up our vet projects from. Players just play better here than many places they move on to. We're not even talking about high draft picks here...Jake Layman played more than Meyers did last season.
Man... None of us know what's going on behind the scenes. Cats need to earn minutes! Dame earned his and had the opportunity to get his from Jump. CJ was behind Wes until Wes got hurt. Layman... Thomas Robinson got minutes until... Zach is earning and getting GREAT minutes in his 2nd year. Who didn't get minutes Pat C? He didn't earn them and was replaced soon after.
I get it. Its just that most championship teams tend to have at least a couple solid contributors on rookie contracts. Seems like we don't usually know what we really have until after we are forced to make a move.
I “assume” Stotts is developing guys behind the scenes (or the staff as a whole) and that guys are given the opportunity to earn minutes. It was my opinion that Simons shouldve gotten a few more minutes in the regular season, to see what he looked like with the lights on, but assuming he gets minutes next year then I suppose thats fine, he wasnt projected to play.
Anfernee is getting plenty of Action in the Development League, where he belonged last year. Which is really great. Once he dominates there, then we can start playing him more with the big boys.
Relax guys... He hasn't even had a Summer League yet. Let him get Summer League MVP first. (I'm predicting this and frankly, I'm pissed Zach isn't playing) Baby steps...
Holy shit... I remember now.. It's WADE BALDWIN I completely forgot about... Yeah, Simons needs the keys. I guess that's what I meant to say.