Many Portland Trail Blazers fans were sad to see Anfernee Simons leave the franchise when he was traded to the Boston Celtics back in the first week of July. But now, still two months away from the start of the 2025-26 NBA season in October, it appears Simons may not even remain in his new home for long.
According to Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer, the Celtics are still open to the idea of moving on from Simons. This does not come as a major surprise, given Boston's current direction and all the uncertainty surrounding that franchise as they look to enter next season with a shell of their former roster.
With that said, I think plenty of Blazers fans know that the Celtics will be missing out if they do opt to trade away Simons. Boston doesn't exactly have a plethora of dynamic scoring guards right now, and they could certainly stand to keep around the fantastic talent Anfernee brings to the table.
It really doesn't seem like all that long ago that Simons was first drafted by the Trail Blazers. The 24th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, the young guard entered a brilliant situation in Portland where he was able to learn under Damian Lillard.
Anfernee Simons could be on the move again
Being put in that situation allowed Simons to grow and develop without having big expectations placed on his shoulders. The Blazers were a playoff team for the first several years of his career, yes, but he wasn't being expected to play a large role in helping them get there.
Instead, Ant was playing a relatively low-minutes role off the bench for the first three seasons of his professional career. It was year four in 2021-22 where his talents really began to shine. That year, Simons played an average of 29.5 minutes per night and earned his way into the starting lineup permanently by the end of the year.
It was not long before Simons was carving his way into Blazers' fans hearts with his strong creation abilities off the bounce along with his deep shooting prowess. He was the ideal Dame disciple for many years in Portland, up until the ultimate departure of number zero. Now, Simons has moved on, and there doesn't seem to be a guarantee he remains in Boston, either.
If he does switch teams again, wherever he ends up, die-hard Portland Trail Blazers fans are going to be marking their calendars so they can be at Moda Center when Anfernee Simons returns.