October 31: Simons underwent successful thumb surgery on Tuesday, Portland announced in a press release. According to the Blazers, Simons is expected to return to action in about six weeks, or around December 12.
October 27: Anfernee Simons sustained a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb in Wednesday’s season-opening loss at the Clippers, the Trail Blazers announced in a press release.
The 24-year-old guard is undergoing surgery and is expected to be sidelined four-to-six weeks, per the team.
It’s a tough setback for Simons, who is in the second season of a four-year, $100MM contract signed in 2022. He has missed a good chunk of time each of the past two seasons due to various injuries, appearing in 119 of a possible 164 games.
Simons has developed into an explosive scorer when healthy, averaging a career-high 21.1 points per game in 2022/23 while posting a .447/.377/.894 shooting slash line. He also averaged a career-best 4.1 assists last season.
In Portland’s lopsided loss to Los Angeles, Simons recorded 18 points, four assists and two steals in 27 minutes. He has a goal of being named an All-Star for the first time in ’23/24 and also wants to become a better and more consistent defensive player.
The All-Star nod seems unlikely now due to the injury — if he returns in four weeks, which is optimistic, he would miss 14 games. If he returns in six weeks, he would be out for 18 games.
With Simons sidelined, players like Malcolm Brogdon and Shaedon Sharpe should see an uptick in backcourt minutes for the Blazers.
S***! He was picking up things where he left them last year, it seems, based on his stat line. Great scorer. It’s a great competition in Portland with three very young prospects with very high upside at both guard spots. They can even mesh well together, and be a three-guard team (with one as a sixth man); if the FO bets on that, which will take time, it could be one of the highest octane backcourts in the league.
Good recovery, baller!
Watch Sharpe break out, big time