The Celtics moved forward with their Jrue Holiday/Anfernee Simons swap earlier this week, completing the trade with Portland as a straight-up, one-for-one swap after exploring ways to expand the deal during the July moratorium. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean Boston is committed to having Simons on its roster to open the season.
“I have talked to other teams who have said the Celtics are actively trying to trade Anfernee Simons,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on Wednesday’s episode of The Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link). “Whether they can or not (remains to be seen).”
Swapping out Holiday’s $32.4MM cap hit for Simons’ $27.7MM figure will help the Celtics operate below the second tax apron in 2025/26. However, as Windhorst and his ESPN colleagues Tim MacMahon and Tim Bontemps went on to speculate, the club may be looking to cut costs more significantly in what will essentially be a “gap year.” Getting out of the luxury tax entirely would be a step toward resetting the repeater tax clock.
A team operating above the cap but below the tax aprons would only have to send out about $19.2MM in matching salary to legally acquire Simons and his expiring contract.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- During his introductory press conference as the Knicks‘ head coach this week, Mike Brown said he’s not bothered by the fact that the team is essentially in championship-or-bust mode as he takes over the job. “Nobody has any bigger expectations than I do. My expectations are high,” Brown said, per Chris Herring of ESPN. “This is the Knicks and Madison Square Garden. It’s iconic. … I love and embrace the expectations that come along with it.”
- While a lack of reliable depth was an issue for the Knicks last season, Brown lauded president of basketball operations Leon Rose for continuing to add more talent to the roster after the team signed Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele in free agency, as Zach Braziller of The New York Post relays. “Jordan, the things that he can do, especially offensively,” Brown said. “He’s a veteran guy. I know he’s hungry to win. He can score at all three levels. You’re excited with that coming to the table. He’s also a better play-maker than he’s given credit (for). I’m looking forward to seeing some of that, too, because I’m huge when it comes to touching the paint and looking to spray that basketball out to get your teammates easy shots. And then Guerschon, an unbelievable young man. His size, his versatility, he can play the four, the five, maybe some three, who knows?”
- No. 3 overall pick VJ Edgecombe missed the Sixers‘ first game of the Las Vegas Summer League on Thursday after being diagnosed with a left thumb sprain. He’s still taking part in on-court workouts and will have the injury reevaluated on Saturday, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
“repeating the repeater tax clock”- might want to repeat that to yourself
The sixers will take a day to day injury and make it week to week or month to month everytime.
VJ is for real man. Looks like a great pick. Don’t jinx him lol.
It can be even worse than that. Remember Zaire Smith’s freak allergic reaction? We lost a year of him to sesame seeds or something at the hospital. Sixers get the worst injury luck with weird injuries.
And with that, VJ’s season has come to an end.
I guess I don’t know Yabusele well enough. Cause I haven’t really seen all that. I know he wants to do well in NY. So I’m all for it. Let’s do it …..
I don’t get why teams don’t post anymore. Cause passing out the post should get plenty of good looks today. Considering teams have more shooting. Means you have options passing out the post. I have been saying for years inside outside game is lacking big time. Why I consider a good post scorer still valuable. Not obsolete. Just another form of offense.
Rose had to upgrade the bench. Too bad he didn’t do it for Thibs. Still the young guys have to step up to give Knicjs real depth.
Methinks it’s analytics that leaves the post up game behind
I remember when rick carlisle succumbed to analytics w/ haralabos in dallas and put porzingis constantly behind the 3 point arc rather than down low
They had one of the highest ‘efficiency’ ratings of all time
Celtics won a title slamming 3’s with porzingis ( and top notch D )
I’m kinda sick of watching 3’s all day all the time
Analytics baby
We’ll is be stuck of the bricks if I were a Celtics fan too. Was it 45 bricks in one game?
Analytics is a tool. Not a scheme or play. KP has no post game. That is done to pull his defenders out. SGA just gave a clinic in playoffs of what efficiency truly means. Shooting is not a constant like a layup or post game. 34% is considered good 3pt shooting. Open looks are considered good shooting. Yet a good post player can shoot 65% on post. Only the best part is the threat. So then you have the outside inside game. You play to win. Not to outshoot teams. Good post players pull double teams. And create foul trouble on opponents. Plus they also get offensive rebound. Offenses, schemes, and plays use analytics as a tool. Not the other way around. At least with real coaching.
Al, great post. Very detailed and in depth. Enjoyed the read.
If the NYK depth is really going to be improved this year, then I suspect it’s going to be because guys like Kolek and Hukporti take the next step to be rotation players. Rare for SRPs to do that until at least their 2nd or 3rd seasons, but both of these guys had more pre-NBA experience than is typical these days.
Clarkson will have his moments, but he’s never been a 2 way player, or an efficient scorer, and is certainly not a PG; I wouldn’t be expecting much different on any of those fronts this year. Kolek, on the other hand, at his best (in college and GL), is a true PG and a very efficient offensive player. NYK are a better team if he seizes those backup PG minutes. Of course, he has to earn them. This isn’t 2k.
GY has an unorthodox game for the NBA, and he can provide the Randle wildcard/ wrecking ball factor at a lower talent/price point. That can be helpful for sure. But GY’s game is NOT a substitute for good defensive C play. We’ll get the latter or we’ll lose. That type of play, on this roster, can only come from Mitch and his backup(s). I only see one candidate for the latter role, and that’s Hukporti. He did fine for a rookie last year, but he needs to show he can consistently give us a good 15 mins a game.
Yeah I expect Kolek and Hukporti to help for same reason. Both are older and have more playing experience. I have read Brown plays his young guys. So I’m hoping. I am a big believer in going ten deep.
Anfernee Simons would’ve been an interesting pickup for the Boston Celtics, moving on from an aging Jrue Holiday, to a younger, better scoring guard, that needs work on the defensive end. But, because of this absolute ASININE CBA, Boston will almost certainly have to trade away Simons also, for nothing. The NBA has been losing massive amounts of fans and viewership the last several years, and with this CBA, will lose a lot more. I’ve been a rabid fan for 30 years, but this past season will be my last. Never again will I support the NBA due to this Marxist CBA that’ll make the product on the floor even worse than we’re used to.
Tatum out it’ll be a good to see how Jaylen Brown does as the number 1 guy. Couple years back everyone was saying he’s the best number 2 guy in the league but now there’s jokes about his handle and how he isn’t that great and what not.
They’ve already been smart in heavily reducing their tax bill while keeping some of the key guys around. Maybe loading up on good cheap contracts would be smarter than just adding nice role players like Simons.
I’m surprised they didn’t try grab Mark Williams. He went to the suns really cheaply and I know he’s on an expiring deal and has health concerns but take a 1 year flyer on him at 6mil cause he could’ve really produced.
Either way celtcis have their own pick this year and somewhat tanking for a top 15 prospect isn’t a bad idea. You get a quality player on a cheap contract for a few years and he could become a key part of their future moving forward.