Everyone knows about the cost-cutting moves the Celtics have made this offseason, but they may not be done, as rumors have been flying that the team is trying to flip Anfernee Simons after acquiring him from Portland in the Jrue Holiday trade. But bizarrely, in the latest report from Sam Amico of HoopsHype, one of the teams showing interest in Simons is Denver.
On the surface, there is an easy path to logic as Simons is an explosive scoring guard with a nice handle. He can create for himself and others and would provide a nice level of competent NBA backcourt depth off the bench.
If Simons was floating around as a free agent, and the Nuggets could bring him in on a minimum deal, then I would see this as a no-brainer. But unfortunately, that’s not the case at all, as Simons is in the final year of his contract on the books for $27.7 million this season.
That’s the part that makes this rumored interest inexplicable and frankly, hard to believe, especially when you consider the fact that the Celtics would certainly want to shed money in any trade, and that would likely be their main motivation in moving Simons in the first place.
Nuggets don’t have salaries to make Simons deal work
The Nuggets don’t have an exception big enough to absorb Simons’ deal, so that means they’d have to match salary to make any trade work. That means including at least one larger contract, which, for Denver, would mean either Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, or Cam Johnson. In other words, that’s not happening.
The Nuggets obviously aren’t going to move one of those guys in a deal for Simons, and from there, it’s a bunch of smaller salaries. The next highest deal on the books is Jonas Valanciunas, but his contract is just $10.4 million this season, not even close to Simons’ $27.7 million.
Even if it was, why would the Nuggets immediately sacrifice their newfound frontcourt depth for backcourt help? They wouldn’t. Nor should they.
So, while it makes sense to connect a proven scoring guard to the Nuggets, nothing else about this trade rumor makes a lick of sense. It’s good that the team is still scouring the market and looking to upgrade on the margins and address areas of need, but this just isn’t the move to do it.