The Portland Trail Blazers have three players entering the 2022 NBA free agency class and if they’re left to test the market, they’re sure to command plenty of attention. Jusuf Nurkic, Robert Covington, and Anfernee Simons‘s contracts are all set to expire at the end of the upcoming season.
The 2022 free agency class could be loaded, with plenty of big name stars holding player options. James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Bradley Beal, and Russell Westbrook could all enter the market next offseason, if they so choose. Zach LaVine, John Wall, and Marvin Bagley III are a few more notable mercenaries that could be available next summer.
While the class does have some significant talent at the top, most of them could accept their player options and decide to test the market in 2023 instead.
With a pretty shallow class, the Portland Trail Blazers incumbents could be top targets in free agency
Aside from the option-equipped stars, the rest of the class is pretty shallow. That means that the Portland Trail Blazers free agents could be at the top of many teams’ target boards. This could make it harder on Portland to keep their players in Rip City. Let’s see how the Blazers stack up with the rest of the free agency class.
Anfernee Simons, Portland Trail Blazers (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Where does Anfernee Simons rank among 2022 free agent guards?
Notable guard free agents:
James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Bradley Beal, Russell Westbrook, Zach LaVine, John Wall, Patrick Beverley, Goran Dragic, Austin Rivers, Jeremy Lamb, Dennis Schroder, Victor Oladipo, Gary Harris, Malik Monk, Collin Sexton, Jalen Brunson, Lonnie Walker IV, Kevin Huerter, Patty Mills
Guard is by far the deepest pool in the 2022 free agent class. Although many of the above players could accept their player options or sign extensions before they officially enter the market, there’s certain to be a good amount of talent left on the table.
Considering how many of the notable guards would be considered a more desirable asset than Anfernee Simons, it might be unwise of him to enter the market in such a loaded year.
Instead, it may be best that he re-sign with Portland, even if it was to a short-term deal, and try to build his value with the Blazers.