The Boston Celtics are open to moving Anfernee Simons after acquiring him from the Portland Trail Blazers roughly two months ago. However, Boston is having difficulty finding value for Simons around the league. As a result, they now face the same situation Portland had with Simons.
He's a better player than his low trade value would indicate. Simons has hovered around 20 points per game the past three seasons in Portland, emerging as a combo guard who can provide secondary playmaking and reliable floor spacing. He's also one of the league's premier shooters, connecting on 38.1 percent of his threes in his career.
From an offensive standpoint, he's a perfect fit for Joe Mazzulla and the Celtics, who led the league in three-point attempts last season by a wide margin. But for as much of an offensive threat as Simons is, he's perhaps equally bad a defender. He consistently ranked near the bottom of the Blazers' roster in defensive rating all seven seasons in Portland.
Celtics face same Anfernee Simons trade dilemma Blazers had
Simons still has value as an offensive sparkplug and would be best suited in a sixth man role, which Boston could do by moving recent Sixth Man of the Year (and Oregonian) Payton Pritchard into the starting lineup.
That's a fine short-term solution, but the Celtics are essentially taking a gap year while superstar Jayson Tatum continues recovering from his brutal Achilles tear. Because of Tatum's injury and the salary-dumping trades of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, this isn't the same Boston roster that won a championship in 2024. They are in the process of retooling their roster around core pieces like Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and the ascending Pritchard.
The Celtics need to come to the same realization that the Blazers made: their long-term outlook is better off by not financially committing to the offensive-minded Simons.
He's on an expiring $27.7 million deal, and could command similar if not more than that annually in his next contract as a prolific scorer entering his prime. Brad Stevens masterfully navigated the salary cap this summer. Does Boston really want to strap itself down yet again because of Simons? He's a great player, but your team's ceiling is significantly limited if he's among your highest-paid players.
Ironically, Portland is still dealing with that same problem in the form of Jerami Grant and Jrue Holiday. They likely should have flipped Simons for someone better aligned with their rebuilding timeline.
It also would've helped if they traded Simons earlier; the longer they waited, the more his value declined because his looming expiring contract scared teams away. It's a better late than never scenario -- at least the Blazers realized that and shipped Simons for something in return while they could. Now, the Celtics are trying to do the same thing and are struggling to find anything.
Boston is stuck with the hot potato that is an expiring Anfernee Simons.