Anfernee Simons’ name has been woven into trade rumors since the moment he officially became a Boston Celtic back in July. He joined the team from the Portland Trail Blazers as part of the Jrue Holiday trade, which was always a cost-cutting move to dive below the second apron.
Rerouting Simons’ $27 million salary in a second deal would’ve even further alleviated the Celtics’ cap pressure.
Yet, he’s still wearing green almost a quarter of the way through the season.
According to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto, Simons had a real chance of wearing black and white in Brooklyn or maybe a different shade of green in Milwaukee heading into the season, but nothing materialized.
“Over the summer, the Brooklyn Nets and Celtics discussed several trade scenarios involving Simons that ultimately fell through,” Scotto wrote in his newsletter on Wednesday. “The Milwaukee Bucks also kept tabs on Simons, HoopsHype has learned.”
Since Simons survived the offseason, there hasn’t been as much of an initiative to move his salary, but if the right situation arose, Boston would listen, it seems.
“The Celtics are under no pressure to reduce their current luxury tax bill, which they’ve budgeted for, but wouldn’t mind going below the tax for the right deal,” Scotto continued. “With that in mind, Boston hasn’t shown a willingness to attach a first-round pick to trade Simons’ expiring contract, league sources told HoopsHype.”
There's no real reason for the Celtics to get desperate in Simons trade talks
At this point, it would make little sense to give up draft capital just to avoid paying Simons’ salary this season. After rerouting Georges Niang to the Utah Jazz, Boston successfully achieved their goal of avoiding the league’s second apron. Now, the Cs sit $4 million above the first apron and $12 million above the luxury tax line.
Further cutting costs would have its financial benefits, of course, but there’s no significant team-building incentive for the Cs to do so. The only way that it would make sense for them to cough up picks to move Simons would be if Boston felt they were getting a championship-level building block in return.
For now, focusing on getting Simons comfortable within the team should be the top goal. He had an awkward start to the season, but his play has been sharper in recent weeks.
Through 17 appearances, the 26-year-old is averaging 14.4 points, 2.6 assists, and 2.4 rebounds per game while shooting 44.8% from the field and 41.1% from beyond the arc.
The next step for him is improving as a facilitator. Again, he’s shown flashes recently, setting up his teammates on occasion, but has mostly been a ball-stopper in Boston thus far.