Grade The Pick: Anfernee Simons (24th Overall)

[calvin natt]

B. Might be lower if they don’t make other moves to change the roster. If this is it, it doesn’t help this team whatsoever in the short term. If they fill the other needs and they can groom him I like it. It just feels like they have two separate things going - a youth movement and also trying to build with the vets. I feel like they need to pick a lane.

 

[JoshuaHall]

More I think about it....

A+. If he shows flashes, we just got an ELITE TRADE chip to leverage in him.

If he doesn’t, I like the risk. Well worth it IMO, especially if the Lakers were going to take him with their next pick.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Again, I would like to get Mediocre Man's reasoning on his extreme grade.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

Again, I would like to get Mediocre Man's reasoning on his extreme grade.

You might want to tag him then. @Mediocre Man

 

[Jade Falcon]

F.

We don't do well with projects, and he is a massive project. He's not the next LBJ, and I'm not going to bullshit myself into believing that he is.

If he's anywhere near starting in 4 years, I will gladly eat my words. But I'm not holding my breath.

This was a stupid, terrible pick by Olshey, and a demonstration of the ineptitude that I've come to expect from Portland's FO and Ownership.

Now.....all of that being said, I will no less support him and hope for the best. That's really all we can do right now. And I really DO want him to succeed.

But I have a strong feeling he won't.

We had clear needs going into this draft, and Olshey fucked it up. A 6'3" High School player with no defensive game. Brilliant.....

I'm at least hopeful about this Gary Trent dude we drafted because he has college experience and a very good 3 point game. I gave him a C-.

 

[julius]

F.

We don't do well with projects, and he is a massive project. He's not the next LBJ, and I'm not going to bullshit myself into believing that he is.

So your standard for the 24th pick is LeBron James?

 

[Jade Falcon]

So your standard for the 24th pick is LeBron James?

No. My standard for high school players drafted out of high school is LeBron James. Otherwise, there's zero reason to draft them.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

No. My standard for high school players drafted out of high school is LeBron James. Otherwise, there's zero reason to draft them.

You wouldn't have gone back in time to draft Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, Amare Stoudemire since they aren't living up to the standard of LeBron (which no one can)?

 

[Hobbesarable]

You wouldn't have gone back in time to draft Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, Amare Stoudemire since they aren't living up to the standard of LeBron (which no one can)?

A couple of notable omissions from your list: Shawn Kemp & Tracy McGrady.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

A couple of notable omissions from your list: Shawn Kemp & Tracy McGrady.

There is another one too but I left him off on purpose because he has the purple and piss stain.

 

[Jade Falcon]

You wouldn't have gone back in time to draft Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, Amare Stoudemire since they aren't living up to the standard of LeBron (which no one can)?

Not a good comparison. There is NOTHING about Simons that tells me he's a generational talent. Whereas someone like LeBron James had his high school games on pay per view for a reason. And all three of the men you mentioned were physically freaks of nature that changed the game of basketball. Simons is not a freak of nature of any sort.

So, when comparing Simons to the men above, no...I would not have drafted Simons straight out of High School if I was a GM.

 

[oldfisherman]

Changing my vote from C+ to B+.

I was wrong on several issues.

When I looked at a larger sample size of stats, he does have some point guard skills. Plus his assist to TO ratio improves.

He is a combo guard, that has been working very hard to learn the game.

There are still questions about his D, but I feel much better about this pick now.

 

[Scalma]

Not a good comparison. There is NOTHING about Simons that tells me he's a generational talent. Whereas someone like LeBron James had his high school games on pay per view for a reason. And all three of the men you mentioned were physically freaks of nature that changed the game of basketball. Simons is not a freak of nature of any sort.

So, when comparing Simons to the men above, no...I would not have drafted Simons straight out of High School if I was a GM.

That’s cool how you were able to scout Simons like that based off some YouTube clips. There isn’t even a full game available (that I know of) of Simons, yet somehow you’ve already come to a conclusion on him.

 

[Jade Falcon]

That’s cool how you were able to scout Simons like that based off some YouTube clips. There isn’t even a full game available (that I know of) of Simons, yet somehow you’ve already come to a conclusion on him.

It's not too hard to draw conclusions from this:



But oh....somehow he's supposed to be as good as a college player, according to some of you.

 

[Pinwheel1]

F.

He's not the next LBJ, and I'm not going to bullshit myself into believing that he is.

Did anyone suggest he was the next LBJ?

 

[Jade Falcon]

Did anyone suggest he was the next LBJ?

The way some people are going about him, he's Jesus Christ incarnate.

 

[JoshuaHall]

It's not too hard to draw conclusions from this:



But oh....somehow he's supposed to be as good as a college player, according to some of you.

Yeah, it is hard to draw conclusions from an 8 minute video. Significantly different than a game, game spacing, or meshing into an offense. There are a lot of stars out there based on 8 minute videos, also, who suck.

 

[julius]

No. My standard for high school players drafted out of high school is LeBron James. Otherwise, there's zero reason to draft them.

ok, then my standard for drafting players after their senior year in college is Tim Duncan.

And my standard for drafting Juniors is Michael Jordan.

And my standard for drafting sophomores is Magic Johnson.

And my standard for drafting freshmen is...

 

[RipCityWarrior]

For the 24th pick there is little risk and potential high reward, if they bring him along slowly and he is a good student he could be a steal I gave the pick an A

 

[Scalma]

The way some people are going about him, he's Jesus Christ incarnate.

Prove it.

 

[Scalma]

No. My standard for high school players drafted out of high school is LeBron James. Otherwise, there's zero reason to draft them.

Imagine actually thinking this is a good take.

 

[dead247]

A.

Very high ceiling. IMG made him a bit of an unknown. A 5-star recruit, lotto talent.

Blazers have a good track record of drafting guys from lesser-known colleges in recent years, so I have a good feeling about that aspect!

 

[riverman]

Not a good comparison. There is NOTHING about Simons that tells me he's a generational talent.

You've seen probably a couple minutes of his game and you are already throwing him under the bus....I think you just want to see an Olshey pick fail dude...don't take that out on this kid....he's got talent..if you don't see that, you're missing out on some bright prospects for the Blazers down the road...you've been on the anti Olshey thing since he got here...well, he's our GM...he's still here...he drafted two of the best 3pt shooters in the draft without a top pick..

 

[julius]

I think the difference is, these are all of the guys who skipped college. He didn't necessarily skip college, he had a scholarship to...Louisville (?), but when Rick Pitino got in trouble, he changed his mind and would've had to sit out a year anyways.

 

[Hobbesarable]

I've got no expectations at this point. I'll wait for summer league and pre-season to be pleasantly surprised!

 

[tlongII]

I graded it C cuz I got no idea.

 

[tlongII]

But summer league will be fun...

 

[BigGameDamian]

My only issue with it is that it's another small guard. May be perfect when he's actually able to contribute, but right now our two best players are undersized guards. So basically we're planning on Dame/CJ not working long term. But hoping Dame/Simons will? Or just planning on Dame asking for a trade and eventually Simons is our guy?

That was exactly my first thought. Perhaps Neil and Paul know Dame really isn't that happy here. Driving to work this morning I was listening to NBA on seriusXM. They were talking about Collin Sexton and if the Cavs could pry Lillard away from Portland in hopes LeBron would stay with the Cavs.

 

[James lamphear]

You had 3 other organization like him not just us and of them was the spurs and they got good eye on talent they draft. So kid must have upside if they like him too. But it be up to the kid if he fails or not in the pros. If he is a worker and improve on the skills he has and get stronger then I don't see why he can't a usable NBA player.

 

[Scalma]

PORTLAND WILL NEVER TRADE LILLARD.

I can see why dumbfuck national media types wouldn’t understand this, but the IQ of blazer fans that actually think it’s a possibility is equal to that of a bag of bacon bits.