BOSTON—Anfernee Simons arrived in Boston from Portland this summer dealing with a steady stream of trade rumors swirling around his future. With less than a month before the trade deadline, Simons is a popular name to be included in hypothetical trade proposals as Boston’s brass weigh upgrades to the roster ahead of a potential playoff run.
Those rumors have been accompanied by some of Simons’ best play of the season over the past few weeks. The reserve guard finished with 15 points in 26 minutes in the Celtics 125-117 win over the Raptors on Friday night. It was the seventh straight game in which Simons scored in double digits, yet the guard couldn’t escape questions after the game about his future in Boston.
“That’s the NBA,” Simons said. “I’ve been in trade rumors since my third year, every other week it seemed like. So it’s just a part of the NBA and you’ve just got to be where your feet are.”
That mentality has gone a long way for the 26-year-old guard who has seen his role grow recently. He’s averaging 17.8 points per game in January on 54 percent shooting from the field and 60 percent from 3-point range. That production has helped Boston to rise to the second-best offense in the NBA and allowed Simons to find his groove within this group.
“I just had to find my way within what we’re trying to do,” Simons said. “I think for the most part I was able to find ways I can still be myself and still play the way that I feel like I play best in. So that pretty much flows into what we’re trying to do. So it’s a pretty easy fit, but of course it’s going to take a minute to adjust to.”
With Boston rising in the standings with Simons’ consistent offense coming off the bench, it creates an intriguing choice for Brad Stevens in the weeks ahead. Simons’ expiring contract ($26 million) makes him a useful trade chip in any major deal, but moving him could disrupt the team’s chemistry amid a surprise season so far. Then again, he also becomes more of a luxury for this group once Jayson Tatum returns, rather than a necessity.
Either way, his play is earning him plenty of praise from both his coach and teammates as the deadline approaches.
“Since day one, he’s done a great job controlling what he can control, and the most important thing, and every night, he gets better and better,” Joe Mazzulla said. “The most important thing is just doing your job every night. He takes a ton of pride in that, he’s competing at a high level. But I love the role that he’s in, because he comes in and it’s another guy that can play-make for us, another guy that can score for us. But again, I like the fact that he takes pride in his defense. He wants to get better every night.”
“He’s a really talented player,” Jaylen Brown added. “He’s probably more talented than the role he’s in right now. But he comes out, he has the right mindset, he contributes to winning every single night, which I respect the hell out of.”
With just 14 games remaining before the trade deadline, Simons’ situation is worth watching amid Boston’s continuous rise in the East standings.