Portland Trail Blazers: Opportunity Knocking at the Door

Chris Phillips   |  

Oct 24, 2021

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Norman Powell is going to be unavailable for the Portland Trail Blazers for some time. Providing some opportunity for a couple of bench players to shine.

The Portland Trail Blazers are 1-1 on the year. Unfortunately, the victory came with the loss of starter Norman Powell. Early reports/indications are that he’s missed a severe knee injury. The fact he’ll most likely miss some time is bad news. However, there is good news. Powell avoided a serious injury, and this will create some more playing time for both Anfernee Simons and Nassir Little.

At least that’s the initial indication from the game against Phoenix. Simons and Little are the biggest beneficiaries. This opportunity presents an excellent opportunity for each player for different reasons. As previously mentioned, the Portland Trail Blazers don’t have a clear plan for the future. With Powell being out, this is a great time for Simons to step up and show the organization that their next star to build around is on the roster. 

Simons has gotten better each year. At this point, it’s yet to be determined who will enter the starting lineup with Powell out. Simons could be the guy to get the first crack at it. Especially since the Portland Trail Blazers have another NBA veteran point guard on the roster in Dennis Smith Jr. Head coach Chauncey Billups could decide to go with Little in the starting lineup so Simons can continue to thrive in his bench role. Simons can also see an increase in minutes while not starting too.

Back to Little in the starting lineup. So, he is more suited to playing the small forward position than Simons. Until this year, Little had received minimal playing time from the Portland Trail Blazers. However, with the coaching change, he’s getting some opportunity to play. Now, with Powell out, he’ll be getting an even bigger opportunity. 

When opportunity knocks, you don’t have someone answer the door for you. Instead, you rush to open the door yourself. Simons and Little can very well be the making of the future core for the Portland Trail Blazers after the Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, and Jusuf Nurkic era ends. Simons and Little just need to go out and continue to play like they have been so far this year.