The Boston Celtics traded Anfernee Simons to the Chicago Bulls last season in a controversial-but-mostly-understanding move to acquire Nikola Vucevic, who, in theory, was meant to bolster their center room.
This move didn't age too well for Boston. Vucevic's time with the team was mostly a disaster, and it's fair to assume that he's already played his last game for the team. Plus, with how stagnant and inconsistent their offense looked during their first-round playoff loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, the Cetics would have greatly benefited from having a great shot-creator and scorer in Simons come off the bench.
Fortunately for Boston, it has an opportunity to right this wrong, as the Florida native is set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer. It remains to be seen what his next contract could look like, but if it adds up, the Celtics should absolutely pounce on the opportunity and bring him back in the offseason.
The Celtics should sign Anfernee Simons this offseason
Simons was fantastic during his brief time in Boston, averaging 14.2 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists on 44/39.5/88.9% shooting splits in 49 games, all off the bench. And, in his last full month in a Celtics uniform (January), he averaged 16.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 3 assists while shooting 48.1% from the field and 48.7% from deep.
Plus, while he's no Derrick White, his defense improved during his time with the Celtics. He isn't ever going to lock up Stephen Curry, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, or anybody like that, but he put the effort in, and it was paying some dividends by the end of his Celtics tenure.
Simons is an incredible basketball player, particularly as a microwave scorer. It did make sense for Boston to move on from him (with Jayson Tatum's return seemingly inevitable at the time, it would have been redundant to have him and Payton Pritchard off the bench--and Vucevic was a good fit on paper because of his spacing and rebounding as a big man), but it's also fair to say maybe the team should bring him back.
The Celtics' depth is a bit of a problem, especially because they don't have a go-to scorer off the bench outside of Pritchard (who averaged just 13 points on 41/20% shooting splits in Games 5-7 against Philadelphia). If Pritchard isn't on his A-game, then Boston doesn't really have anybody else who can step up off the bench and help the team find its rhythm when things go quiet.
There might be a redundancy concern, and the Celtics probably do have some bigger priorities they need to iron out this offseason (i.e., their center room), but bringing Simons back should be on the list somewhere as they look to get back into the title picture next season.
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