The Portland Trail Blazers sanguine pledge to contend for a championship in the 2019-20 season put a lot of pressure on its players to deliver, perhaps none more than Anfernee Simons. The front office handed him the keys to the second unit by trading Evan Turner and letting Seth Curry sign elsewhere in free agency. They took a leap of faith on a 20-year-old who had played just 141 regular season minutes as a rookie .
Through the first dozen games of the year, the leap of faith appeared well-founded as Simons demonstrated his ability to score dynamically and added a new punch off the bench.