The Portland Trail Blazers traded seven-year veteran Anfernee Simons to the Boston Celtics last summer, saying goodbye to a player they drafted and nurtured through an entire era of the franchise. So far
the 6’3 guard has gotten off to a rocky start, averaging 11.5 points in 29.5 minutes per game, shooting 30% from the three-point arc in two appearances. But Simons might be forgiven for a little bewilderment, given the shift in locale and system.
The Trail Blazers have undergone seismic shifts themselves, adopting a new, quicker style of play and swapping out head coaches in the first week of the season alone. Former coach Chauncey Billups was arrested on Thursday in illegal gambling charges, leading to his suspension and the advent of assistant Tiago Splitter as Portland’s main man.
Asked about these developments in a Celtics media scrum, Simons weighed in with his personal reflections.
On the Billups scandal, Simons offered:
“It hit me pretty tough for sure…Just in shock. And obviously, I’ve got a great relationship with Chauncey. Even after the trade, he’s checking in on me, and I’m checking in on him. So we had a great relationship, and I think it’s an unfortunate situation for him to be in, especially for him and his family, all the media attention that’s coming in, the scrutiny. It’s just an unfortunate situation.”
On his own play and his role coming off the bench, Simons had this to say:
“I thought at first I was overthinking it… But once I got out there I got a little more comfortable. Obviously when you’ve been starting for how many years now, you feel, like, changing the kind of routine that you’ve built the past couple of years. But I think those early years coming off the bench really helped me and kind of understanding coming off the bench and the rhythm and just the preparation to come off the bench. But it was good.”
Simons will return to Portland when the Celtics visit on Sunday, December 28th of this year.
