Anfernee Simons Makes Top 25 NBA Shooting Guard List

Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard Anfernee Simons has made HoopsHype’s Top 25 list of NBA guards. The annual series of columns ranks NBA players by position. 17.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 3.9 assists last season were enough to gain Simons entry onto the list, where he ranks 16th.

HoopsHype author Frank Urbina calls Simons an “explosive scorer”. He credits Simons’ emergence last season as a regular part of the Blazers’ roster, then speculates on the coming year:

With the departure of CJ McCollum, we expect Simons to fill into that role wonderfully alongside Damian Lillard and to post the best season of his career in 2022-23. If he does that, he could easily make his place in this ranking look quite bad.

The Blazers inked Simons to a contract extension over the summer, preserving him from Restricted Free Agency. They expect Simons to start alongside franchise cornerstone Damian Lillard.

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Lu Dort ranked just below Simons on the list, at 17. Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green finished just above, at 15. Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics, Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz, and Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns took the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st slots, respectively.