![\"anfernee](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2203628165-e1756404573622.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMaddie Meyer\/Getty \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Anfernee Simons of the Portland Trail Blazers looks on during the first quarter of the game against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on March 5, 2025 <\/p>\n
There\u2019s a very good reason Anfernee Simons<\/a> Celtic jerseys aren\u2019t exactly a hot item at the NBA<\/a> Store.<\/p>\n Because he may never get to wear one.<\/p>\n The 26-year-old scoring guard (a level up from shooting guard) was acquired from Portland<\/a> for Jrue Holiday<\/a> in what was essentially a bookkeeping move to help get Boston<\/a> under the insidious second apron<\/a>. From the moment the transaction was announced on July 7, his Celtic Life Expectancy became wholly uncertain \u2014 and remains so with training camp a month away.<\/p>\n A General Manager Told Heavy on Celtics That Boston Is \u2018Still Very Much Willing to Talk About\u2019 an Anfernee Simons Trade<\/p>\n In terms of trade possibilities, one general manager told Heavy on Celtics<\/a> flatly, \u201cThey\u2019re still very much willing to talk about Simons.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s also the huge matter of whether Boston would be able to re-sign him if he does stay the year, but that\u2019s a bridge off which the club may never have to jump.<\/p>\n There is, however, another point of view in some NBA circles.<\/p>\n One veteran (and quite accomplished) personnel executive wonders whether the Celts should be so quick to break up with the new guy. The caveat here would obviously be another club knocking Brad Stevens\u2019 absorbent white athletic socks off with an unrefusable offer.<\/p>\n But, though he acknowledges Simons\u2019 defensive issues, the aforementioned exec is high on the 6-foot-3 collector of points.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what the Celtics are thinking, but other than Jaylen Brown<\/a>, there\u2019s not a better scorer than Simons on that roster,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, they obviously aren\u2019t going to play the same way they played when they had (Kristaps) Porzingis and (Al) Horford and Holiday. Joe Mazzulla\u2019s going to have to completely change the style of play. And Simons\u2026 nobody can score like him on that team other than Brown. He\u2019s the second-best scorer, and it\u2019s not even close.\u201d<\/p>\n Nodding to the other end of the floor, the exec said, \u201cYou know, the whole idea of having a guard who can defend like Jrue Holiday \u2014 who the hell defends like Jrue Holiday? There isn\u2019t one out there. That guy\u2019s unbelievable. I just think Mazzulla changes their style of play, and if Simons is there, they figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t If Anfernee Simons Stays With the Celtics, a Front Office Source Says, \u2018I Bet You He\u2019s Their Leading Scorer\u2019<\/p>\n After a brief discussion of how some of those changes might look as they transition from theory to real NBA life, the front office guy doubled down on Celtic Simons.<\/p>\n \u201cI bet you he\u2019s their leading scorer,\u201d he said. \u201cEven with Jaylen. He\u2019s 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\u2019s going to let it fly.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the kids say, he\u2019s a bucket. He is. That dude is a bucket. He can really fill it up. And remember, he was averaging around 20 in the West. What do you think he\u2019s going to do in the Eastern Conference, which is a LOT less competitive? How\u2019s he not going to score and score big?\u201d<\/p>\n A Trade Could Take Awhile<\/p>\n Be that as it may, another rival front office granted that Simons could be traded before the ink on this online story dries. But he talked up the possibility that a move could take a while.<\/p>\n \u201cAnfernee Simons makes $27-plus million,\u201d he said. \u201cWho\u2019s got room to put that in their cap? And he\u2019s up after this year, so the Celtics aren\u2019t going to want to take back anything that would load in more salary of less flexibility.<\/p>\n \u201cI think, unless they are presented with some sweetheart situation, the most likely time for Simons to get moved \u2014 again, if he even does \u2014 would be at the trade deadline.<\/p>\n \u201cI could see Boston being out of it and another team thinking they need a scorer like Simons to put them over the top. I could see another team that\u2019s close wanting to add that kind of firepower down the stretch and into the playoffs. Even if it\u2019s a rental, a team might go for him, because what we\u2019re seeing now with the second apron and all that, if you win, it\u2019s hard to keep a team with high-priced guys together. An expiring deal is so valuable.\u201d<\/p>\n Whether it comes now or later.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tSteve Bulpett<\/a> has covered the NBA since 1985, the first 35 of those years as beat writer\/columnist for the Boston Herald. In that time, he has gained National Top 10 honors from the APSE as a columnist, beat reporter and features writer. Since 2014, he has served as a vice president of the Professional Basketball Writers Association. More about Steve Bulpett<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Celtics\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maddie Meyer\/Getty Anfernee Simons of the Portland Trail Blazers looks on during the first quarter of the game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103527,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-103526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1756440848_4_GettyImages-2198063180-1-e1755644474613.jpg\")
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