LA Clippers Reportedly Hold Interest In Celtics Guard

Anfernee Simons will be a hot topic for Boston Celtics fans as we approach the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline. The score-first guard joined the franchise as part of the trade that sent Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Simons is in the final year of his current four-year $100 million contract. He will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. That’s why Boston was expected to explore its options regarding a Simons trade. After all, it’s better to flip him now, rather than see him walk away during the offseason.

However, Simons has emerged as a key part of Joe Mazzulla’s bench rotation. He has made efforts to improve his defense while making a huge impact with his ability to generate offense off the bench. It’s that same impact that’ likely is’s likely drawing attention to Simons as a potential trade target.

According to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, the LA Clippers have interest in acquiring Simons. Unfortunately for the Clippers, Simons’ $27.6 million salary for this season may be outside of their price range.

“Still, Coby White and Collin Sexton have been mentioned since the offseason as guards LA has targeted, sources said,” Siegel reported. “Anfernee Simons is another guard the Clippers are known to have interest in, but his contract is likely out of their price range.”

Boston’s biggest issue is that moving Simons would seriously impact its depth at the guard position. Unless another ball-handler was coming to the Celtics as part of the deal, Joe Mazzulla’s second unit would be short-handed in both scoring and ball-handling.

Simons’ contract will likely continue to be an issue in trade talks, but, given his impact off the bench and the lack of depth behind him, Brad Stevens may be ok keeping him on the roster until the end of the season and seeing how things play out from there. In fairness, Simons has earned that opportunity.