The Portland Trail Blazers moved Anfernee Simons to the Boston Celtics in order to secure the services of Jrue Holiday earlier this offseason. Simons, who spent all seven years of his NBA career in Portland,
largely performing as an offense-first asset, able to score at all three levels.
Unfortunately, he seldom starred on the defensive end.
Among combo guards, he almost never earned a steal rate above the 10th percentile, spending two seasons in the third percentile.
This week he told Boston media that he was currently being taught defensive drills he had never seen before.
“Whether it’s stabbing at the ball, trying to steal the ball, get in passing lanes, being in the right spot each and every time, that’s what we drilled for the first four weeks I was here before training camp.”
“Those things are things I never really worked on or been taught – and so I was happy that that was the focus.”
Whether this improves his defensive game remains to be seen.
The Blazers drafted Simons 24th overall in the 2018 NBA Draft out of IMG Academy in Florida.
