PHILADELPHIA -- After a slow start to the season shooting the ball (5-for-21 from deep through the first four games), Anfernee Simons has found his groove for the Philadelphia 76ers. He's shooting 16-for-27 over the previous three games and is now shooting 43.8% from deep for the Sixers.
His ability to provide some immediate offense off the bench is such a big help to this group in order to give the offense some much-needed support to the team's star-studded starting lineup is important and the Sixers will continue to lean on him. The production is nothing new to Jabari Walker, who was teammates with Simons during his days with the Portland Trail Blazers.
"I speak very highly of him all the time," Walker said of Simons. "If you go back to my old
clips when we signed him, that was one of the biggest shocks to me for how we got him. I spent a lot of time with him in Portland. I've seen the work he puts in. He's a high-value guy. He can shoot, but he can do more than that. So I think this is just the beginning. We always knew he could shoot, and I think people are going to see he can do even more than that."
When the Sixers signed Simons, it was certainly a shock to Walker. Of course, he was a possibility, but Philadelphia had already made a couple of moves early in free agency. So, when Simons signed, that was a shock to Walker.
"No, I think I just saw everything going on and I just saw signing after signing," Walker recalled. "Then I saw Anfernee and I was like, ‘Whoa. Now THAT is crazy.'"
Despite the slow start, likely due to missing the entire preseason because of a hamstring issue, Simons has found ways to be effective off the bench and give the Sixers that type of production they need. To some, it might be a shock, but for Walker, this isn't anything new. This is just Simons being Simons. That elite 3-point shooter.
"His game is just so effortless," Walker added. "I've seen him come back from injury before. You have to think, he was the first option in Portland. So the way I view him is just like, give him the ball, let him score. And it's never changed because I've seen the ability he has. So I'm trying to get Anfernee open all the time. And I think even now with him getting these open shots, it's like, OK – it's easier than when he was in Portland and they game-planned for him. So now having Tyrese (Maxey) pitch it to him and he's wide open, I'm sure he's loving it."
If the Sixers are going to continue getting this type of production from Simons, then it changes everything for Philadelphia. It gives the Sixers a legitimate scoring option and an instant-offense player off the bench. All of that makes all the difference in a playoff series.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Sixers' Jabari Walker gives thoughts on teammate Anfernee Simons
