Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics spent the majority of the offseason shedding talent in an effort to avoid the second apron of the NBA’s new salary cap. The one big-name player the team brought to town over the summer is former Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons.
As part of the Jrue Holiday trade, Simons found his way to the C’s, and he figures to play a big role in replacing the scoring output lost with Jayson Tatum on the sideline as he works his way back from a torn Achilles tendon.
Even though he was just traded a couple of months ago, Simons has seen his name pop up in a slew of trade rumors ahead of the start of the new season. And while he still could conceivably get dealt to another team, he’s in Boston for the time being, and it sounds like Stevens is thrilled to have him on the roster.
“He is an electric scorer,” Stevens said of Simons at Celtics’ media day, per Daniel Donabedian of ClutchPoints. “He’s an outstanding shooter. He is a guy that teams will legitimately be thinking about when they enter the game. That’s a scouting report asterisks guy, you have to know him inside and out because he’s liable to go off.”
In 70 games with the Trail Blazers last season, Simons averaged 19.3 points, 4.8 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game, despite fighting with several other young guards for minutes. With the Celtics, Simons is headlining the team’s guard rotation alongside Derrick White and Payton Pritchard.
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If Boston is going to have any shot at sneaking into the playoffs this year, it needs Simons to step up and take on a big role offensively with his new team. Stevens believes he’s capable of becoming a key contributor for the C’s, and time will tell whether or not he’s correct.
Featured image via Rob Gray/Imagn Images
