To begin their 2025 NBA offseason, the Boston Celtics made a big move to trade star veteran point guard Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers. In return, they brought back talented 26-year-old guard Anfernee Simons.
Unfortunately, the Celtics were always going to trade away key players. Due to their luxury tax situation and new ownership taking over as well as the Jayson Tatum injury, Boston was rumored to be targeting major cost-cutting moves. Holiday was not the only subtraction from the roster.
Kristaps Porzingis was also traded out of town in a deal that landed him with the Atlanta Hawks.
Following the move to acquire Simons, the Celtics have been rumored to be open to dealing him elsewhere. Simons is in the final year of his contract that is set to pay him over $27.6 million. He’s an interesting player, but his contract will make things difficult for Boston to find a trade for him.
Despite that fact, Brad Stevens is still open to the possibility.
According to a report from longtime NBA insider Marc Stein, the Celtics are still looking into trading Simons.
“League sources say Boston continues to explore its trade options with newly acquired Anfernee Simons, who became a Celtic as part of the trade that sent Jrue Holiday to Portland,” Stein wrote.
During the 2024-25 NBA season with the Trail Blazers, Simons played in 70 games. He avereaged 19.3 points per game to go along with 4.8 assists, 2.7 rebounds, and 0.9 steals. Simons also shot 42.6 percent from the floor and 36.3 percent from three-point range.
His numbers aren’t bad and he still has plenty of room and time to grow his game. However, the contract is going to be the sticking point for quite a few teams who might have interest in him otherwise.
Expect to continue hearing rumors about Simons and Boston moving forward. The Celtics are clearly still open for business and might make another move or two before the 2025-26 season arrives.
