Portland Trail Blazers: Time for the young guys to contribute
Youthful Contributors
The Portland Trail Blazers are forced to examine the youth on their team. The young guys are the reigning dunk champion Anfernee Simons, Nassir Little, and CJ Elleby. We’re going to look at these guys exclusively. Mainly, they’re the most recent draft picks that have played in an NBA game. However, Greg Brown III did have a good Summer League and put on quite the show!
Anfernee Simons
Simons is a young athletic guard. Unfortunately, he got lost in former head coach Terry Stotts‘ rotation. With Powell, McCollum, and Lillard ahead of him on the depth chart, it will be hard for him to get a lot of minutes. However, this will be Simons’ fourth year in the league (can you believe he’s only 22), and at this point in his career, he should be able to be counted on. The expectation should be that he comes off the bench for Lillard. Simons can push for getting the 6th Man of the Year award this season. He needs to get at least 20 minutes a game to do that.
Nassir Little
Little is another athletic wing player. The biggest concern with him is his ability to shoot. The biggest showing of promising growth is the improved shooting. Last season he shot 35% from three-point range. If he can become a reliable three and D player, this will be huge for the Portland Trail Blazers. Unfortunately, he’s most likely going to be buried behind Robert Covington, Nance, and Powell. However, Nance most likely won’t play much small forward, so there is a chance Little can get some minutes.
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