![\"Anfernee](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2241313162-e1768590178129.jpg\")
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Anfernee Simons, Boston Celtics<\/p>\n
When the Boston Celtics acquired Anfernee Simons as part of the deal that sent Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers<\/a>, he was widely viewed as a trade chip.<\/p>\n Simons is in the final year of his $100 million, four-year contract.<\/a> He will become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Yet, as the season has progressed, the free-scoring guard has emerged as a key piece of Joe Mazzulla\u2019s rotation. That was evident when he dropped 39 points on the Miami Heat<\/a> in Boston\u2019s 119-114 win on Thursday.<\/p>\n As such, the conversation surrounding Simons has shifted. Suddenly, the fanbase is wondering how Boston could keep him around in the long term.<\/p>\n During a recent appearance on the \u201cCeltics Chronicle\u201d podcast, NBA<\/a> salary cap expert Keith Smith shared his thoughts on what Simons\u2019 next contract could look like.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Simon\u2019s contract number is gonna come down,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThe teams with cap space aren\u2019t gonna be overly interested in giving it to him\u2026.I think he\u2019s gonna be more around the mid-level amount. Now, if I\u2019m the Celtics, I\u2019m okay with giving him a little bit more than the mid-level just to keep his number a little higher for future trade reasons down the line.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith continued.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, if they started around $15, $16 million, I don\u2019t have a huge issue with that. Even if they went as high as $20 in year one, and then did it as a descending contract that came down slightly year to year, that would be fine too.\u201d<\/p>\n By inking Simons to a new deal, Boston would have a reliable bench scorer on a tradable deal for the future. That would remove the need to trade him in the next two weeks, while also giving him an opportunity to continue developing within Boston\u2019s system.<\/p>\n Celtics\u2019 Jaylen Brown Had High Praise For Simons<\/p>\n When speaking to the media following Simons\u2019 39-point night against Miami, All-Star forward Jaylen Brown spoke glowingly of the impact the former Trail Blazer is making for the Celtics.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was an amazing performance off the bench,\u201d Brown said.<\/a> \u201cThat was one of his best performances of the year, and we needed every basket\u2026Yeah, I said it. That boy can play. He\u2019s probably more talented than the role that he\u2019s placed in. You know, I think that\u2019s kind of obvious.\u201d<\/p>\n Brown continued.<\/p>\n \u201cI have hella respect for him to come out and play winning basketball and do what the team needs to do on a night-in and night-out basis, doesn\u2019t complain, just brings good energy. And just contributes in a positive way\u2026He\u2019s learning, he\u2019s growing, he\u2019s coming into his own, he\u2019s developing. Tonight was an example of that.\u201d<\/p>\n Celtics Can\u2019t Afford To Lose Simons<\/p>\n Another reason why the Celtics may be unwilling to part with Simons, is the lack of depth they have at the guard position. Outside of Derrick White and Payton Pritchard, Simons is the only experienced guard on the roster.<\/p>\n If Boston flipped Simons without another guard coming back in return, Joe Mazzulla would struggle to find ball-handling and shot creation off the bench. Rookie Max Shulga and sophomore Baylor Scheierman would be his only other options.<\/p>\n Simons deserves credit for making himself an invaluable member of Boston\u2019s rotation. If he sticks past the Feb. 5 trade deadline, Brad Stevens would be wise to lock him down for the foreseeable future. It\u2019s clear that Simons could have a role to play on Boston\u2019s next championship-ready team.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAdam Taylor<\/a> is a basketball reporter covering the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Miami Heat for Heavy. He holds bylines for CelticsBlog, USA Today and Yardbarker. Adam also covers the WWE and AEW. He has a bachelor\u2019s degree in creative writing from Open University. More about Adam Taylor<\/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":"Getty Anfernee Simons, Boston Celtics When the Boston Celtics acquired Anfernee Simons as part of the deal that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-242112","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}