the "Simons is young" excuse is starting to wear thin. Luca Doncic is only 4 months older than Simons; Trae Young is 8 months older; Gary Trent is only 5 months older, as is Colin Sexton. Ja Morant is 2 months younger; RJ Barret is a year younger; Coby White is 8 months younger; Cam Reddish is 2 months younger; Tyler Herro is 7 months younger. All those guys were drafted earlier than Simons, but the main point is that they are actually realizing that potential they have instead of standing on it as an unlaunched platform the horizon of potential has a shelf life....Simons may still have some potential, but the ceiling is dropping
Much of what you say may be true, but seriously Doncic? The guy started playing professionally at 16. Granted Simons did not play well last year, but the original point of this conversation was that he is not looking any better. But to most who have been watching, he does look better. And will only get better if he gets more experience. I think Terry playing him 6-10 minutes is wise. He is not hurting the team when he is out there. His D looks better and his handles look better. Either develop these young players or cut them loose.
when the argument is youth holding some player back, then yeah, it's instructive to look at how comparably aged players are performing, and Doncic is close enough in age to count so then, when the age argument loses steam, then there's a switch to it being "experience" that's holding him back. But, Simons played in 70 games last season and averaged 21 minutes; and did so with a consistent spot in the rotation. Simons has actually played more NBA minutes than Trent, and probably has had a more consistent allocation of playing time All that's not to say he can't improve significantly from the level he's at right now. But it does mean that the initial evaluation of his ceiling should be revised downward by quite a bit
he averaged 21 minute last season over 70 games. That's a pretty decent chance. And he's played guard, which seems like his position.
Gore in the world has RJ Barrett realized anything? Dudes been terrible. Nobody is saying their isnt prospects better than Simons. Comparing Simons to Luka freakin' Doncic just to knock Simons is kinda ridiculous.
Sometimes I think Wizenheimer is the most mis-understood guy on here: he must feel like his wife is posting under different monikers...
I was comparing the AGES of players because people keep pointing at Ant's age as an excuse for his slow development. And lately, the excuse has become "experience" even though he got consistent and significant playing time last season to be sure, young players will improve, sometimes dramatically, as they mature and gain experience. I expect Simons will do likewise. But, IMO, it isn't just age or experience holding Simons back, it's also talent and level of skills. Maybe he's due for an explosion in production and efficiency sometime this year like Trent had last year. But barring injuries, he's unlikely to receive much playing time this season, especially early I'm not one of those advocating for Simons to be waived. He's a cheap salary for the next 2 years and Portland needs those.
I usually try to stay away from age and go for experience. I use minutes played. Before last season ant had a grand total of 141 mins played. Last year he did get some run. Almost 1500 mins played. It showed as well. You could see marked improvement in decision making. As a player gets to 2000 minutes which is essentially a years worth of playing time. They start to develop chemistry and the game tends to "Slow Down" as they say. Compare that with Luka and you can see since he started playing professionally he has 10,000+ minutes. Just in the NBA he is closing on 5000. My bet is you will continue to see improvement for 1M this year. Lets compare that to Gary Trent who has about 1500 total minutes also. Obviously we are starting to see "GT" as i like to call him, get comfortable. This year could be really good for both. If these two continue to play well and avoid the injury bug the Blazers depth is going to be off the charts. They need both of them. What i would love to see is being able to match teams using both of their still sets on given nights. It's a great thing to have for any coach.
huh? I just looked, Simons was born in 1999. 7 of the first 10 players taken in the top-10 of the last draft were born in 2001. Two in 2000; and one in 1998. That trend hold thru the next 5 players. I think Simons was one of the youngest players in his draft...just turned 19. But that was 2 1/2 years ago
You realize that those guys are the outliers, right? Some players have developed into all-stars at his age. That's why those guys are so special. Just because those guys develop into great players at a very young age doesn't mean that their all of a sudden isn't a learning curve based off of age and experience. Just because one player is great as a rookie doesn't mean that other guys don't need a season or two of experience (especially when they lack college experience). You're creating a false equivalency based on some of the best young players in the league and misapplying it to Simons.
all I'm saying is that youth is a poor excuse for a player developing slowly. And I guess Trent is an outlier too because he has played fewer minutes than Simons is only 5 months older
It's not. Anfernee's a project. He's barely 21. Many guys need a few years to get going. Especially so if they didn't get college experience. Guys develop at different rates. Simons looks good in his 3rd season out of high school. Shot is better, he's stronger, better defensively, better off the dribble.
It was just some highlights from 4q garbage time that I saw, but it was 3 times I saw him dribbling the ball for 20 sec and then shoot. If this is going to be another guy playing selfish ISO then I don't want him play.
The same things people are saying about Simons they were saying about CJ after his first 2 years. CJ had college seasoning under his belt already. I remember I was one of those people who wanted to write off CJ. He was awful those first few years. I’d actually be willing to say Simons has shown me more in his first couple years. Despite being younger and not getting as much of an opportunity. Simons right now is a year younger than CJ was as a rookie and has been playing out of position for the most part.
Well I guess we need to change our GM then because first he puts a lot of pressure on him with all those incredible talent, locked backup PG job stuff and second he is committed to playing him out of position.
