Latest Anfernee Simons trade deadline insight is music to Celtics fans’ ears

The NBA trade deadline is now about 48 hours away. The Cleveland Cavaliers have fortified their roster and may introduce James Harden into the fold, for better or worse. Other contenders in a wide-open Eastern Conference will surely make moves of their own with the same goal in mind.

From a Boston Celtics perspective, much of the focus is on what will happen with Anfernee Simons. What ClutchPoints’ NBA insider, Brett Siegel, recently shared on that front should delight C’s fans.

With Simons headed for a significant salary reduction this offseason, if Boston could trade him now for a player like Ivica Zubac or Jaren Jackson Jr., that would be one thing. Granted, absorbing the latter’s salary might be too detrimental to future flexibility and roster building to actually go through with acquiring him.

However, such a deal, where the Celtics swap Simons’s $27.7 million contract for a high-priced figure in the front court, seems unlikely to materialize.

In that case, even without knowing every available avenue, the odds are that Boston’s best option is to keep its new sixth man through the trade deadline.

Anfernee Simons’s evolution

From Brad Stevens to Joe Mazzulla and his new teammates, Simons is deservedly earning praise from all corners of the Celtics’ organization.

He’s still balancing his natural inclination to feel out the game with the team, most noticeably Mazzulla, questioning when he doesn’t let a shot fly. It’s a reminder that he has the ultimate green light.

Even so, he’s acclimated well enough to his new role to average 14.2 points in 24.5 minutes. The eighth-year guard is knocking down nearly 40 percent of the 6.7 threes he is hoisting.

It would be intriguing to see a dynamic shooter like Simons, who is effective off the catch and can also create for himself off the dribble, get the chance to play alongside Jayson Tatum.

Boston needs the former Portland Trail Blazers’ guard’s scoring punch. However, it’s the other side of the ball where his evolution is taking place. That starts with his work with assistant coach Ross McMains.

It’s a subject Simons recently discussed after helping conduct a ‘Fit for a Cause’ launch event at the Auerbach Center for 50 Boston Scientific employees and 30 youth from the Boys & Girls Club of Boston, Boys & Girls Club of MetroWest, and YMCA of Greater Boston.

“Having that mindset. Finding ways to play-make in that area, and I think, from the first day I got here, we drilled that every single day. That was the first thing we did before we even touched a basketball, dribbled a basketball, we dedicated the first 30 minutes of the workout to playmaking on defense and positioning on defense,” shared Simons. “We let it be known early on that that was gonna be a focus, and we wanted to improve in that area.”

Whether it’s chasing down Caleb Love, flipping a likely layup into a turnover, providing sound positional defense on the perimeter, or producing 1.2 deflections per game, Simons’ growth at that end is evident.

He arrived eager to prove he is a winning player. He’s doing just that. If there’s a deal only available now that’s worth making, so be it. However, since that doesn’t appear to be the case, the best course of action is for the Celtics to hold onto him for their playoff push, if not longer.