Assessing Anfernee Simons' value to Celtics as trade deadline looms originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
If you haven’t already, it’s time to recalibrate your expectations for the 2025-26 Boston Celtics.
A squad that was projected to win just over 40 games and maybe sneak into the play-in tournament is 23-12 through 35 games and enters Tuesday as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Despite losing four key members of its 2024 championship team (Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet) and being without superstar Jayson Tatum, the Celtics look like a legitimate contender in the East, especially if Tatum can return in the next month or two.
And while the common belief was that Boston would look to trim salary ahead of the NBA trade deadline as they take a “gap year” with Tatum sidelined, that belief appears to have shifted as Feb. 5 approaches.
“Everyone has been penciling them in there as a salary dump team,” The Ringer’s Zach Lowe said Monday on his podcast. “They may dump salary, but I’m putting it out there: I think they may buy at the trade deadline. I think they should. They have a lot of draft assets to trade.
“… I think they are buying and I think they should buy.”
So, what does that shifted belief mean for this Celtics roster — most notably Anfernee Simons?
If the C’s wanted to trim salary and potentially duck under the first apron of the NBA’s luxury tax, trading Simons would present the easiest path. He’s making $27.7 million this season on an expiring contract and was floated in trade rumors before the season even began.
But Simons is making a compelling case to stick around as a second-unit spark plug, with his latest statement coming Monday night at TD Garden when he poured in 27 points (all in the second half) to help the Celtics fend off the Bulls.
With the trade deadline less than a month away, let’s examine the cases for keeping Simons around and for trading him elsewhere.
The case for keeping Simons
Simons has been as advertised as a scorer. His 20.5 points per 36 minutes rank second on the team behind only Jaylen Brown, and he’s making just under 40 percent of his 3-pointers (39.6 percent).
But the 26-year-old has found other ways to impact winning: Simons’ +168 plus-minus is the second-highest in the NBA since Dec. 1 (behind only Oklahoma City’s Cason Wallace), and his 108.1 defensive rating since Dec. 1 is the third-best among Boston’s rotation regulars, behind only Hugo Gonzalez and Luka Garza.
Most importantly, Simons appears to have bought into the Celtics’ emphasis on hustle and defense, which have helped him develop into a more all-around player.
“I think when you understand how we want to play each and every night and you’re doing it each and every night, you find ways to impact the game in your own way,” Simons told reporters after Monday’s win.
Of course, the C’s have plenty of high-energy rotation players like Hugo Gonzalez, Jordan Walsh and Luka Garza who can make an impact with their hustle. But if they want to make a deep playoff run, they need reliable scoring outside the trio of Brown, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard.
That’s where Simons comes in as a source of instant offense for the second unit. And if he can hold his own on the defensive end, he’s worth keeping around until at least the end of the season, when Boston can re-evaluate and see if he fits into the team’s plans for 2026-27 and beyond.
The case for trading Simons
Simons absolutely has provided value, but you could argue he’s a bit of a luxury in a backcourt featuring White, Pritchard and the rapidly-improving Gonzalez.
The frontcourt, meanwhile, could use reinforcements — and Simons is one of Boston’s most tradable assets.
Both Lowe and ESPN’s Tim Bontemps recently floated the idea of president of basketball operations Brad Stevens including Simons in a trade for a veteran big man to bolster a frontcourt that’s getting consistent production from just two players in Neemias Queta and Luka Garza.
“I think there’s a Simons-for-a-big-man trade, a spare-parts-and-a pick-for-a-big-man trade,” Lowe added on his podcast. “I don’t know who the team is or the player is. Would Jusuf Nurkic help their team? I don’t know. It’s going to be something unsexy like that.”
Whether it’s Nurkic or a player like Brooklyn’s Nic Claxton (or perhaps the Los Angeles Clippers’ Ivica Zubac), Boston should at least explore the big man market ahead of the trade deadline, even if it means including Simons in a potential deal.
Simons has made great strides defensively, but he’d likely still be targeted on that end in a playoff series, and his offense won’t be as much of a priority once Tatum returns.
Big man is a more pressing need for the Celtics, and if they’re serious about contending, a trade involving Simons might help land them a player who can add more balance to Mazzulla’s squad entering the postseason.
The bottom line
Trading Simons seemed like an obvious move entering the season — and it still might be a wise decision if he can be dealt for a big man.
But Simons has looked increasingly comfortable in Boston’s rotation over the last month-plus, to the point where it’s easy to envision him playing a key role in a playoff series.
Stevens should keep the phone lines open, but he should only move Simons if Boston can get a high-impact big man in return.
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