Blazers Star Won't Request Trade Despite 'Mental Battle' of Tough Portland Season

Will Portland offload him at some point?

Mar 16, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons (1) and center Deandre Ayton (2) on the bench in the final few minutes of the game against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Starting Portland Trail Blazers point guard Anfernee Simons has quickly become one of the club's more reliable scoring guards.

Unfortunately, the 6-foot-3 vet has become disillusioned with his Portland tenure overall, and his team's dreary 2024-25 outlook in particular, as Jason Quick of The Athletic details.

“I’m not going to lie, this is probably the hardest mental battle I’ve had in my career, and that’s saying a lot, because I went through some s— earlier in my career,” Simons told Quick.

Portland selected Simons with the No. 24 pick out of the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida (he opted for a post-graduate year there after reclassifying, and ultimately chose to enter the draft rather than pursue college) in the 2018 NBA Draft. Current Trail Blazers starting center Deandre Ayton was the No. 1 pick out of Arizona by the Phoenix Suns, but Simons is looking like the more appetizing trade chip for rival teams, in part thanks to the affordability of his contract.

“It’s been hard as hell,” Simons said of the team's 11-22 season start. “I be having my bad days. I’m like anybody else. I call them my ‘human days,’ when I let things get to me a little bit. Obviously, it has had an effect on my game. That’s what I’m trying to get out of.”

That said, Quick reports that Simons does not intend to demand a trade out of town just yet.

“We’ve talked about it, and my talks with Ant will be with Ant, but yes, I see it,” fourth-year Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups said. “It was last year, too. We had some good, long talks over the summer, things that were bothering him, and things I could help him with. So, it hasn’t been a just-now thing. It’s been over time.”

The 25-year-old is comporting himself commendably. Through 30 games, he's averaging 17.7 points on .415/.335/.905 shooting splits, 4.9 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.0 steals. His scoring has nosedived from its prior levels in 2022-23 and 2023-24, when he was the team's starting shooting guard and was being fed the ball.

“Obviously, I want things to be better,” Simons said. “But you can’t control some of that stuff. I have to come in and be professional and be myself every day. This can be a tough situation if you let it be a tough situation. Obviously, not winning as much as you would like the last couple of years, it can get on you mentally.”

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