There remains a possibility that the Boston Celtics’ Anfernee Simons experiment will end before it truly begins.
The Celtics acquired Simons in a one-for-one player swap with the Portland Trail Blazers — veteran Jrue Holiday served as the return package — on July 7 of this year. Holiday was a productive defender in his two years in Boston, but he was dealt away for purely financial reasons.
The Celtics may now be under the NBA’s second salary cap “apron,” granting them slightly more flexibility in terms of making moves for other team’s players, but many in the basketball world believe Simons could soon be out the door.
Will Simons stay in Boston, or will he go?
Heavy Sports’ Steve Bulpett recently discussed Simons’ situation with anonymous NBA executives, who offered differing opinions on what they believe might happen.
While one general manager claims the Celtics are “still very much willing to talk about Simons” when it comes to potential trade offers, another executive believes that he could be an immediate contributor to the team’s success during the 2025-26 campaign.
“I bet you he’s their leading scorer — even with Jaylen [Brown],” the executive said. “He’s going to have the ball a lot, and that dude can really score. That offense is going to have to change to accommodate him, and, on the last year of his contract, he’s going to let it fly.
“As the kids say, he’s a bucket. He is — that dude is a bucket. He can really fill it up. And remember, he was averaging around 20 [points per game] in the West[ern Conference]. What do you think he’s going to do in the Eastern Conference, which is a lot less competitive? How’s he not going to score and score big?”
Still, others are a little less certain about Simons staying in Boston beyond midseason, which is when yet another executive predicts he could be dealt.
“Anfernee Simons makes $27-plus million. Who’s got room to put that in their cap? And he’s up after this year, so the Celtics aren’t going to want to take back anything that would load in more salary of less flexibility,” the executive said. “I think, unless they are presented with some sweetheart situation, the most likely time for Simons to get moved — again, if he even does — would be at the trade deadline.”
Simons, a former first-round pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, had spent the entirety of his seven-year NBA career with the Trail Blazers before being dealt this past summer. Last year, he appeared in 70 regular-season games, averaging 19.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game on 42.6% shooting.
