The Boston Celtics’ goal this offseason was to shed the dreaded second apron. Jayson Tatum tearing his Achilles in the playoffs only accelerated that process. Boston now has more financial flexibility after trading away Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, and Al Horford and walking away from free agency.
In the Holiday trade, the Celtics acquired guard Anfernee Simons from the Portland Trail Blazers. Simons is on an expiring $27 million deal, and with Boston not offering him an extension before the season, it feels that his future with the organization is clear.
Anfernee Simons may not last the full season with the Celtics
As soon as the Holiday trade was made official, Simons found himself in trade rumors. Boston has reportedly been looking to flip Simons, but would not mind him being on the roster when opening night hits in October.
Simons is a fine offensive piece. He has hovered around 20 points per game, five assists, and 38 percent shooting from three. With Tatum set to miss most of next season, Boston is going to need multiple players to shoulder the load, and make up for the lost touches.
The problem is that Simons’ skillset is very redundant with Payton Pritchard’s. Pritchard is set to have a huge on-ball role this year alongside Jaylen Brown and is looking to build off of a career-best campaign that saw him win Sixth Man of the Year.
Simons and Pritchard will almost never be able to share the court together because they are both negative defenders. It wouldn’t be surprising to see head coach Joe Mazzulla experiment with small ball and have all three of Simons, Pritchard, and Derrick White on the court, but the fit just doesn't work.
Trading Simons for a better roster fit is the route to go
It doesn’t make sense to pay Simons $27 million to come off the bench. He comes off the books either way, but trading him for a better frontcourt fit would be in the Celtics’ best interest. Their guard depth led by Pritchard, and White is set.
Now, they need to shore up their center and forward rotation, and trading away Simons would be the way to accomplish that.
The East is wide-open this year, and it is still unclear whether or not Boston will go for a playoff spot, or take a gap year in the light of Tatum’s injury. Either way though, it seems that Simons days in the green, and white are numbered.