Blazer fan coming in peace. Curious about the Magic fan base perspective on trading for shooting vs signing a shooter in FA. Would a more talented guard be better than a cheaper guard that doesn’t require relinquishing assets or young talent?

I think it’s safe to say Simons is better overall than Monk, and younger with a similar AAV contract. but how much would you be willing to give up for him or a similar player rather than just throw a bag at the player that gives you 80% and keep all your draft capital?

Edit 2: thanks for the thoughtful engagement! I’m going to go back to my own team’s sub but this has been insightful, looking forward to seeing what y’all do this summer.

Edit: the trade framework below is not mine, just an idea I have seen from Blazers’ forums. I understand it’s an overpay lol please don’t yell at me.

E.g. Blazers fans in most hypotheticals want some version of 1-2 protected FRP + Anthony Black for Simons.

Shot 13/21 for 61.9% and 7/11 from 3 for 63.6%

Also went 4/6 from the free throw line.

ROY

I’ll start by saying I’m a big Anfernee Simons fan, so I definitely am biased towards holding him on my fantasy team, but I’m curious how everyone else in points leagues are feeling about him? He gotta get traded? Or hold? Especially with Portland being so low seeded.

An elite shooter and athlete who can score from anywhere on the floor and who is effective as both an off-ball player and primary ball-handler while only being 23 years old and is under contract for multiple seasons.

If Ant were to be traded by himself, no other Blazers players or picks traded with him, what kind of return would he net? What player(s) and/or pick(s) would the Blazers realistically get from him alone?

Let me start by saying that I understand that we are guard-heavy, Anfernee is no longer on a rookie contract so he's one of our more tradable assets, especially if a good young wing or center is available for him. I'm cherry-picking stats a bit here but since the NBA introduced the dunk contest Brent Barry is the only player to win who also has a higher career 3pt percentage than Anfernee. He has a relatively unique skillset being so athletic while also being a sharpshooter. If he's ever able to show that he has vision and/or becomes a solid defender, his impact and value will skyrocket. At only 24 his upside is just too great for us to trade him just because we have too many guards. I don't think the majority of Blazer fans think this way but for the ones who do, it makes no sense, especially if we're committing to a rebuild.

Anfernee Simons

I feel like Poole and Simons are very similar players in an eerily similar situation this year.

They're both up and coming 23 year old combo guards that are about to see a big usage bump coming out of the shadow of an elite older guard.

Anfernee averaged 21.1/2.6/4.1 on .447/.377/.894 splits 2.1 TOV
Poole averaged 20.4/2.7/4.5 on .430/.336/.870 splits 3.1 TOV

Poole is 23 ADP on ESPN, Anfernee is 94.

I would take Poole higher because he's better at drawing FTs and I think he'll get an extra boost leaving kind of a toxic situation on the Warriors with draymond, but idk if he's 70 spots higher.

In 2021, Simons was putting up 7.8/2.2/1.4

In 2022, he is averaging almost 17ppg, 2.7rpg, and 3.9apg

Now, let’s look at his numbers since Damian Lillard went out on Jan 3:

23.3/2.9/6.1

Since McCollum was traded (small sample size), he’s put up 27ppg, 6apg, 3rpg

If he continues putting up the post-Lillard numbers (not even the post-McCollum ones), he will end up around 20/4.5/3

Well, what does this mean in historical context?

“Improvement comes in many forms, but this is a scoring award. Those winners from the past 22 seasons averaged 12.33 points in the season prior to being named MIP, then 19.97 in the year they won – an average increase of 7.64 points.”

If Simons continues his current play, he will have improved by 12ppg/3.1apg - a massive jump.

FYI for my fellow gamblers, you can still get Simons for Most Improved at 70:1 odds. The sports books are way behind on him, they’ve been setting his Over/Under for points at 20.5 the last few games despite McCollum no longer being there. He’s crushed it all 3 games (averaging 30).