Bill Simmons Suggests Anfernee Simons Over Trae Young

A reported issue between Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young and his coach Nate McMillan made headlines earlier this week. It also prompted The Ringer’s Bill Simmons and Ryen Russillo to discuss other NBA guards under 30 they might prefer over Young — who was taken fifth overall in the 2018 Draft.

The discussion played out on the Bill Simmons Podcast, with Simmons suggesting Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons — taken 24th in 2018 — might be better at this point.

“Simons, I think it’s at least an argument now him and Trae. Did you see that 45-point game he had against Utah. I randomly watched that. I was not just awesome offensively but defensively he made the two biggest plays of the game.”

“I went on like a rabbit hole, how does this guy go 24? And he’s just like the first wave of these IMG guys, these guys that skipped whatever college and nobody has any idea how to even evaluate them. Now this dude, they’ve got him on a good contract, I was suspicious of the stats last year, because if it was a good stats, bad team.”

“This is not good stats, bad team stuff any more and this guy is like a legitimate guy and him and (Darius) Garland I’d rather have over Trae.”

This season, Simons is averaging 24.7 points on almost 40 percent three point shooting, 3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1 steal. Young is scoring 27.2 points on 29 percent three point shooting, 2.9 boards and 9.6 assists.

You can listen to the discussion here, 30 minutes in.