NBA: Ranking the top 15 free agents and predicting where they’ll land

Washington Wizards Bradley Beal (Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports)
Washington Wizards Bradley Beal (Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports)
8 of 16
Portland Trail Blazers
Portland Trail Blazers Anfernee Simons (Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports)

9. Anfernee Simons, restricted

Part of the reason why the Portland Trail Blazers were somewhat confident in trading C.J. McCollum at the NBA Trade Deadline was due to the emergence of Anfernee Simons this past season.

During his fourth season in the league, he had a breakout campaign in which he averaged 17 points and four rebounds per game on 44 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent shooting from 3-point range. He proved to be a valuable piece for the Blazers this past season.

Portland needs to figure out how to keep him and will likely be able to retain him on a fair contract. Either way, the Blazers should have the money to keep Simons in Portland.

Prediction: Portland Trail Blazers