Boston Celtics guard Anfernee Simons has been discussed as a trade chip pretty much since the moment he was acquired by Boston on July 7 in the Jrue Holiday trade.
Simons’ $27.7 million cap hit turns into cap space at year’s end, and the Celtics aren’t expected to re-sign him. At 26 years old, Simons is looking to get paid, and Boston is looking to keep its expenses under control.
That being said, Anfernee has been an awesome addition to the Celts for this one season. His instant offense has been a perfect thing to have available with all of the scoring Boston lost with Jayson Tatum being out.
Given his expiring status, many people have assumed Brad Stevens would be wide open to trading Simons before the February 5 deadline if the right deal came along. Although Simons has been nice offensively, he still doesn’t fit the defensive identity that Joe Mazzulla has established in Boston. Trading Simons for, say, another depth big man wouldn’t hurt the Celtics; it might help them.
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So … will Simons gets moved in January or not?
NBA insider Jake Fischer touched on this on Tuesday.
Writing for The Stein Line (subscription required), Fischer asserted that the Celtics “could very well elect to keep Simons” through the deadline.
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“I do suspect, though, that if Boston could somehow move Simons for a rotational upgrade and lower their tax bill in the process — or get out of that penalty zone all together — that would check all of the boxes Brad Stevens’ front office could conjure up,” Fischer added.
Simons is averaging 13.0 points, 2.3 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game in 29 games played this season for the Celtics. He’s a career 14.9 PPG scorer on 38 percent shooting from three.
Featured image via Paul Rutherford/Imagn Images
