Boston Celtics: B/R lists more likely Marcus Smart/Robert Williams for Ben Simmons swap

After yesterday’s afternoon’s ‘Shams bomb’ about the Boston Celtics being interested in a Ben Simmons trade–and the Philadelphia 76ers being keen on getting Jaylen Brown in return in such a scenario–trade packages have been surfacing all over the NBA world.

ClutchPoints believes that the Cs would go for a Brown + Aaron Nesmith for Simmons scenario, while Celtics fans would be ready to whip out the pitchforks should any Brown/Simmons swap happen at all.

Of course, MassLive’s Boston Celtics reporter Brian Robb poured water on the idea of Brown being moved for Simmons, so the more likely way Simmons wears green is an alternative.

And Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer mentioned such a more realistic scenario involving more expendable Cs than Brown:

"When push ultimately comes to shove, the Celtics would seem far more inclined to offer a package centered around Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III, which was the often-rumored framework of Boston’s initial efforts to land Aaron Gordon before last year’s trade deadline."

That said, Fischer ultimately doesn’t see a deal happening without the Celtics breaking up the ‘Jays’ in the process:

"But a three-team framework, sending Smart and Williams and picks for another All-Star to reroute to Philly, would seem to be the one possible route for Boston to land Simmons without sacrificing Brown."

I tend to agree with B/R here. Philadelphia has no reason to take on Robert Williams given the presence of Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond in their frontcourt. While Drummond is a free agent after the season, the Sixers probably wouldn’t be too high on having two highly priced pieces playing the same position in the Time Lord and Drummond.

As for Marcus Smart, his value is, similarly to Simmons, plummeting. He’s shooting career-worst percentages and just caused a serious stir with the C’s star players.

Perhaps the Simmons-to-Celtics rumors will die out in time, but they are a hot button topic in Beantown right now.