Simons to Orlando?

Orlando, FL— After another embarrassing loss to the Portland Trail Blazers 119-90 yesterday evening, hopefully, that will be the final straw for Jeff Weltman and the Magic front office to make a move at the NBA trade deadline on Feb, 6. 

Simons Time in Portland

After the Trail Blazers shipped Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks, Simons was supposed to fill that void and ascend into the future lead guard for Portland, but it never fully came to fruition. Simons’ last season was a bit ‘underwhelming’ to his standards as he only appeared in 46 games in the 2023-24 season after suffering a UCL tear in his right thumb in late October. 

Fast-forward to this season. With the trade deadline on the near horizon, it’s going to be interesting to see if General Manager Joe Cronin and the Trail Blazers organization are ready to move on from Simons, who’s just 25 years old. Portland has a ton of young ascending talent, including Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Donovan Clinigan, and others, which may make Simons expandable for the right price. 

Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons showcasing his shooting range

Cap Space and Contracts

Anfernee Simons is currently on a 4-year $100 million contract and is under contract through the end of the 2026 season. This is a very team-friendly team considering that the Magic extended both Jalen Suggs (5 years-$150.5 million) and Franz Wagner (5 years-$224 million) this offseason, and this upcoming offseason Paolo Banchero will be eligible for his supermax rookie contract extension, which he will undoubtedly get. 

According to Spotrac, the Magic’s payroll is the fourth-lowest in the NBA. The Magic have a ton of leverage and flexibility to make a move now or in the near future. Yesterday I talked about the Magic acquiring Jazz guard Collin Sexton, but if they went after Simons I believe that’s another low-risk, high-reward situation where Simons should be entering the prime of his career for the foreseeable future. 

Anfernee’s Playing Style

Portland’s seventh-year guard Anfernee Simons has been a fan favorite in the Magic community as he’s a hometown kid who fits exactly what this Orlando team desperately needs. Orlando needs a guard like Simons who is capable of scoring on all three levels, can space the floor around Paolo and Franz, and can score down the stretch of games as we’ve seen him do many times throughout his career. 

Taking a look at Simons and his play this season he’s quietly been very productive on a bad Portland team, but also an ascending Portland team that’s been getting hot as of late having won six of their last seven contests. Simons in 44 games has averaged 18.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and is shooting 42.5% from the floor and 37.3% from deep.

These numbers might not be eye-popping but when you put Simons in a role where he’s not asked to be the first or second option, and he can be a third or fourth option bucket getter, you will see just how effective and more efficient he can be. Simons’ ability to get downhill, come off pick and roll as a threat to score, and just overall his ability to space the floor would do wonders for this Magic team. 

Of course, there is always going to be the pushback on his ‘lackluster’ defense, or him being a bad wing defender, and rightfully so. Two things for me, one, if you surround him with great defensive players, which the Magic have, you can overlook that. Secondly, you have to be willing to sacrifice some of your defense for an offensive playmaker when your team is dead last in scoring, three-point shooting, and effective field goal percentage. 

What Orlando Can Offer Portland

Orlando has plenty of draft capital with eight first-round picks and 12 second-round picks until 2031, and they have plenty of incentivizing players that they could deal excluding their big three. The only players I would consider untouchable in any trade would of course be Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, and Jalen Suggs. I’d be willing to throw Moe Wagner in that mix considering how valuable he is to this team.

In terms of a trade, if Orlando wants to be aggressive and make a move for Simons they have more than enough to get this deal done. Here’s my proposed trade idea for the Magic to land Anfernee Simons.

Trail Blazers receive: Forward Jonathan Isaac, a 2025 first-round pick via Denver (top-five protected, and a 2025 first-round pick (via Orlando). 

Magic receive: Guard Anfernee Simons.

Will the Magic Trade for Simons?

I will preface this by saying the likelihood of the Magic trading away their longest-tenured player, their best defender when healthy, and a guy who they just re-signed this offseason to a 5-year $84 million contract this offseason is very small. Having said that, in order for the salaries and cap to work Isaac would have to be the odd man out. 

The salaries for players like Anthony Black, Gary Harris, Jett Howard, etc don’t align, and the Magic cannot trade Wendell Carter Jr because six months have not passed since he was signed to an extension. He will be eligible to be traded after Apr 07, 2025.

Orlando is unlikely to make this trade, but in this hypothetical, this works for both teams for so many reasons. The Magic get a young ascending guard in Simons who will drastically help the offensive woes of this team, and for Portland, they get another forward to put alongside Toumani Camara and Donovan Clingian making that a very promising defensive frontcourt. 

Jeff Weltman and the entire front office need to realize now, at the deadline, or this offseason that they need to start putting players that ‘fit’ with their big three, and not players that they hope one day will ‘fit’ with their big three. Paolo and Franz need shooters around them, guys who can handle the ball, and are capable of creating scoring opportunities for themselves and others. 

There’s a reason the Magic have one of if not the worst, offenses in the game of basketball, and this team will continue to have a limited ceiling come postseason time if they do not address their needs to get another scorer.