Blazers Star Suffers Troubling Injury vs Thunder

Portland can ill afford to lose one of its brightest lights.

Feb 25, 2024; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons (1) reacts after throwing the ball away after colliding with teammate Jerami Grant (9) in the fourth quarter at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-Imagn Images / Jaime Valdez-Imagn Images

During the Portland Trail Blazers' blowout 137-114 defeat at the hands of the undefeated Oklahoma City Thunder, starting point guard Anfernee Simons incurred a nasty-looking injury.

With 9:26 left in regulation, the 25-year-old landed awkwardly on his left arm during a botched fourth quarter dunk try against starting Thunder center Chet Holmgren, and was writhing in pain for several minutes. He was subbed out of the game for good instantly, but remained on the team's bench rather than departing for the Moda Center locker room.

Happily, Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups at least is optimistic the ailment is nothing major.

“They are looking at him now,” Billups noted postgame, per Aaron J. Fentress of The Oregonian. “None of us think it’s too bad.”

Simons finished with nine points on a dismal 1-of-8 shooting from the floor and 6-of-6 shooting from the foul line in 28:29. He also passed for six assists, grabbed four rebounds and blocked a shot.

It was his lowest-scoring game of the young season. He's averaging 18.7 points on .366/.311/.938 shooting splits, 5.2 assists and 2.0 rebounds. Portland can ill afford to lose one of its brightest lights — and, perhaps, a sneaky-appetizing trade chip.

The 6-foot-3 vet is now significantly older than the Trail Blazers' anticipated "core" group of 21-year-old shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe and 20-year-olds Donovan Clingan and Scoot Henderson. He's currently drawing a $25.9 million salary, and will make $27.7 million in the last year of his contract with Portland. That's solid money, yes, but pretty reasonable for such an elite and multifaceted scorer. Simons' role on a contending clean may seem a bit murky, but it seems quite possible someone could take a flier on the young guard. A long-term ailment might stop that from being on the table.

The Trail Blazers' other best trade chip, power forward Jerami Grant, led the Trail Blazers with 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the floor (3-of-7 from beyond the arc) and 4-of-5 shooting from the fou line, three rebounds, two assists and a block.

Oklahoma City All-NBA point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with an offensive clinic, racking up 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 shooting from the charity stripe, grabbing seven rebounds, dishing out six assists and nabbing a steal for good measure.

The Thunder rise to a 5-0 record, while the Trail Blazers drop to 2-4 on the year.

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