When the Portland Trail Blazers selected Anfernee Simons with the No. 24 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, he wasn’t the most well-known commodity. Entering the NBA as a fifth-year postgraduate with zero NCAA tape to refer to, supporters were left to merely hope that the traits on Simons’ scouting report — the Monta Ellis and D’Angelo Russell comparisons, the admiration for his combination of athleticism and scoring ability — would come into fruition on a night-to-night basis.
On Monday night, shorthanded against the Atlanta Hawks, Simons put every positive superlative speaking on his potential on tape.