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The Boston Celtics' fire-sale from the summer of 2025 led to the franchise parting with several integral pieces of their title-winning 2024 roster, such as Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday.
As for the latter of the trio, the Celtics were able to swing a deal to bring in a promising young talent from the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for the aging defensive guard to make the somber event more bearable.
After the dust settled and the Celtics completed their goal of ducking under the second tax apron, the franchise was left with Anfernee Simons, a shot-happy 6-foot-3 shooting guard formerly taken under the wing of Damian Lillard before he was dealt from the Trail Blazers in 2023.
Simons has potential due in large part to his impressive 38.1% career three-point shooting clip on 6.5 attempts, but recent updates have indicated that the Celtics might look to move on from their recent acquisition to drop below the luxury tax. In fact, the storied franchise could ultimately look to move another 2024 NBA champion in the process.
"They're still roughly $12.1 million above the $187.9 million luxury-tax threshold and will be subject to the more punitive repeater tax this season because they've been taxpayers in each of the past three years," FanSided's Bryan Toporek wrote Monday.
"Unless their depleted roster works its way back into championship contention, the Celtics might be motivated to keep slashing and burning, which could put Anfernee Simons on the chopping block."
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"Simons is the Celtics' fourth-highest-paid player this season at $27.7 million. Unless they're willing to move on from (Jayson) Tatum ($54.1 million), Jaylen Brown ($53.1 million) or Derrick White ($28.1 million), flipping Simons for someone earning at least $12.1 million less would be their cleanest way out of the tax."
"The Celtics could also look to salary-dump Sam Hauser ($10.0 million) and one player on a minimum contract as an alternative."
If the Celtics are aiming to save even more money after conducting one of the biggest salary-dump offseasons in recent history, Simons is an obvious trade candidate. Sam Hauser, on the other hand, would be an unexpected victim of their cost-cutting plans.
Jayson Tatum's unfortunate Achilles injury during the 2025 postseason was the Celtics' first step towards using the 2025-26 campaign as a 'gap year,' and letting go of Simons would push that agenda further.
As for the Celtics' sharpshooting combo-forward Hauser, Boston's hypothetical decision to move him would make a significant statement with regard to how far they'd be willing to go to financially de-stress.
Hauser boasts a career 42.0% three-point percentage and has developed into one of the NBA's best pure shooters over the course of his four-year tenure with the Celtics.
The possible departure of Hauser remains unlikely, especially considering that Boston handed the undrafted wing a four-year, $45 million contract extension in the summer of 2024. Simons, though, remains a likely trade block addition leading up to the 2025-26 trade deadline.
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