{"id":317847,"date":"2026-06-24T08:01:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T08:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/317847\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T08:01:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T08:01:28","slug":"heartbreaking-miami-heat-twist-to-a-potential-anfernee-simons-celtics-reunion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/317847\/","title":{"rendered":"Heartbreaking Miami Heat twist to a potential Anfernee Simons-Celtics reunion"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5p\">Pretty much since the Boston Celtics traded Anfernee Simons to the Chicago Bulls for Nikola Vucevic in February, fans have been pondering whether or not Simons could reunite with Boston as a free agent this summer.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5s\">The Celtics have the full mid-level exception, worth roughly $15 million at their disposal. Simons, <a href=\"https:\/\/hardwoodhoudini.com\/former-celtics-guard-teases-potential-reunion-ahead-return-boston\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">who wouldn\u2019t rule out a return to the Cs, <\/a>could almost certainly be had for that number or less.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5v\">\u201cFor sure, obviously, we gotta finish our season [in Chicago] first and then see what happens there,\u201d Simons explained when asked if he\u2019d consider coming back to Boston,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TKLi3lqHIK4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> via CLNS Media<\/a>. \u201cFor sure, down the line. I said it, I enjoyed my time here. I built great relationships here. So, I see it for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5y\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/HeatCulture13\/status\/2069502758093553972\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">ESPN\u2019s Bobby Marks<\/a>, Simons wouldn\u2019t cost much more than the minimum. Unfortunately, Marks also pinned the scoring guard as a great fit for the Miami Heat.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"61\">&#8220;I think keep an eye on one name, Anfernee Simons. He&#8217;s a free agent out there. If he&#8217;s basically willing to go for the vet min and play out the year to restore his value, he&#8217;d fit in perfectly with this team&#8221;<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"64\">Miami makes sense, right?<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"67\">Celtics fans will remember how effective Simons was as a catch-and-shoot option during his brief stint in Boston this season. He\u2019d likely thrive alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo with all of the open looks the two-time MVP will be able to create for him.<\/p>\n<p>Simons&#8217; services could still be used in Boston, too<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6d\">Of course, the same argument can be made for the Celtics as a landing spot. Simons was excellent for them in his 44 appearances. The Orlando native averaged 14.4 points per game while shooting 44% from the field and 39.5% from beyond the arc on 6.7 attempts per outing.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6g\">Oh, and those numbers came while Jayson Tatum watched from the bench in street clothes. There\u2019s real reason to believe Simons could be supercharged in a return to Boston with the opportunity to play alongside Tatum.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6j\">JT\u2019s gravity often forces opposing defenses into compromising positions where they\u2019re forced to leave shooters open (see Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, and Sam Hauser).<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6m\">Simons spoke highly of his time with the team and the winning culture that runs throughout the organization.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6p\">\u201cThey have a lot of aspirations to win a championship, and you can see that each and every day \u2014 by their habits, the way they practice, the way they speak to each other, it\u2019s one common goal,\u201d Simons told reporters ahead of his return to TD Garden with the Bulls. \u201cI learned a lot from just being around and being able to experience it here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6s\">In recent months, there hasn\u2019t been much legitimate buzz about a reunion though. It would be tough to see a player who quickly won over fans in Boston join the rival Heat, especially after Miami just beat the Cs out for Giannis.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow hardwoodhoudini.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=hardwoodhoudini.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pretty much since the Boston Celtics traded Anfernee Simons to the Chicago Bulls for Nikola Vucevic in February,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317848,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-317847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}