In his third year as the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, Chauncey Billups is on track for another losing season. Currently owning one of the worst records in the league, the Trail Blazers have suffered through another disappointing campaign a quarter of the way through 2024-2025.
While there have been many reasons Billups' third season has not worked out thus far, a lot of them were not anticipated. Many of their young players have thrived thus far with it instead being their veterans being the biggest letdown. Reigning top scorer Anfernee Simons has been the biggest one amid one of the worst seasons of his career.
It is always easy to single out the best players on a struggling roster, and Simons has not been the only issue. Scoot Henderson has not grown the way many had hoped for in his second season and DeAndre Ayton has continued to be displeasing in the middle.
Still, responsibility starts at the top, which is not where Simons has been early in the year. His drastic shooting and overall offensive regression have been one of the team's biggest issues in 2024-2025, causing frustration all around. After 23 games, the Blazers' dreadful 8-15 record is the seventh-worst in the league.
Barring a major turnaround, Billups could be coaching for his job in the coming months. While there is still a lot of season left, the players he expected to lead his team in 2024-2025 have not been there for him early on.
Anfernee Simons has been the Blazers' biggest disappointment
Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard Anfernee Simons (1) shoots the ball overUtah Jazz power forward John Collins (20) during the first half at Moda Center.
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Through the team's first 23 games, Simons is averaging just 16.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game in 20 outings. Those numbers would be quality for a role player, but that is not who Simons is expected to be on this roster. He is not an elite scorer who can be the top option of a championship team, but he has proven capable of pacing this type of offense.
At 25, Simons is theoretically just entering his prime. Yet, his numbers are extreme regressions from his previous two seasons in which he averaged over 20 points per game. Simons' 2023-2024 campaign is his best to date, with averages of 22.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 5.5 assists.
Playing a steady 30.3 minutes, Simons' court time is slightly down from a year ago but not enough to cause this large of a discrepancy. Instead, his lack of consistency is largely due to subpar shooting numbers. Primarily a jump shooter, Simons hit from deep at a 38.5 percent clip in 2023-2024 but is down to just 32.9 percent in his seventh season.
If Simons is unable to pick up his sluggish pace, he is on track for his worst statistical year in four years. Since the 2020-2021 season, Simons has increased his offensive numbers each year and has led the Trail Blazers in scoring since the infamous Damian Lillard trade in 2023. However, at press time, he has fallen to second on the team behind third-year guard Shaedon Sharpe.
Anfernee Simons has not been the only issue early in 2024-2025
Simons' lack of offense has been less than ideal, but on an 8-15 team, there is more than one issue. Billups believes it is the whole team, whom he called “soft.” That is certainly a possibility.
Like most struggling teams, the Trail Blazers are a bottom-10 defensive unit, allowing 116.4 points per game. However, with just 106.8 points per game of their own — fourth-worst in the NBA — most of their issues thus far have been offensive.
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For as good as Sharpe has been in his third-year leap, Henderson and Simons' offensive regressions significantly limit Portland. However, arguably no player has been more disappointing than Ayton. The seventh-year center has sat out for nearly half of the team's games through November and has been inefficient when he hasn't.
After a promising end to the 2023-2024 season, Ayton has been nothing short of a disaster in 2024-2025. He has been played out of the rotation on several different occasions while reaching 20 points just twice in his 16 games. With rookie Donovan Clingan now nipping at his heels, the magnifying glass put on Ayton has only exposed more of his lack of development.
If the season were to end now, Ayton's 14.3 points per game would be the worst of his career. Ayton is also in danger of averaging under 10 rebounds for the first time in his seven-year run with just 9.4 through 16 contests. There just does not seem to be urgency from either Ayton or the Trail Blazers with Billups content to utilize a rotation at center.
To make matters worse, general manager Joe Cronin can only watch in pain as the players he turned down from the Miami Heat during the Lillard trade saga continue to excel. Tyler Herro, who was notoriously the center of Pat Riley's trade offer for Lillard, leads the Heat in scoring with 24.1 points per game through Dec. 7. Had he been with Portland, he would easily be their leading scorer and provide a lot of the shot-creating skills they lack.
For as disappointing as Ayton has been, most of the Blazers' offensive woes still fall on the shoulders of Simons. Unless Portland can turn their season around, an offseason overhaul could be on the horizon.