Anfernee Simons

Simons is a scoring guard with an NBA résumé that includes a first-round draft selection out of high school, a Slam Dunk Contest title, and trades to two Eastern Conference teams after seven seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers. Drafted 24th overall in 2018, he arrived in the league as a raw but explosive athlete and developed into a reliable rotation scorer and secondary playmaker before moving to Boston and Chicago.

Born on June 8, 1999, in Orlando, Florida, Simons attended Edgewater High School, where he averaged 17.8 points, 4.6 assists, and 2.4 rebounds as a sophomore. After a brief stint at Montverde Academy ended with a bench role, he returned to Edgewater, reclassified to the class of 2018, and averaged 23.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.5 blocks as a senior in 20 games. He spent a postgraduate year at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, averaging 22.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists. He also played for the United States under-19 national team in the summer of 2017.

Rated a five-star recruit and ranked seventh in the 2018 class by 247Sports, Simons initially committed to Louisville but decommitted after the program became embroiled in recruiting scandals. He considered South Carolina, NC State, Tennessee, and Florida before announcing in January 2018 that he would bypass college and enter the NBA draft. ESPN ranked him 19th among draft prospects, and he was invited to the NBA Draft Combine.

The Portland Trail Blazers selected Simons with the 24th overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft, making him the third high school player drafted since 2015, following Thon Maker and Satnam Singh Bhamara. He signed with Portland on July 2, 2018. On April 10, 2019, he made his first career start and scored 37 points, six rebounds, and nine assists against the Sacramento Kings, becoming the first Trail Blazers rookie to score 30 or more points since Damian Lillard. In 2021, he won the Slam Dunk Contest after attempting a controversial dunk in which he tried to kiss the rim.

Simons spent seven seasons with Portland, evolving from a developmental guard into a rotation scorer. In 2025, the Trail Blazers traded him to the Boston Celtics, and in 2026, he moved again in a trade to the Chicago Bulls. In Chicago, he continued his role as an offensive spark plug off the bench, relying on scoring bursts and improved playmaking.

On the court, Simons is a scoring guard with three-level offensive ability. He creates space off the dribble with a quick crossover and step-back, attacks the rim in transition, and has developed into a legitimate outside shooter. His 37-point rookie start hinted at shot-making potential that later manifested in microwave-scoring stretches off the bench. Defensively, he remains a work in progress, though his lateral quickness improved with experience. His playmaking and court vision expanded in Portland and carried over into his Chicago tenure.

Simons enters the 2025–26 season after trades moved him from Portland to Boston and then to Chicago within a span of two years. His résumé includes a five-star recruiting pedigree, a Slam Dunk Contest championship, a 37-point rookie debut start, and seven seasons as a Trail Blazer before the Eastern Conference moves that placed him in a Bulls uniform.