The former All Star is looking for his next NBA home
A new name has surfaced in relation to the Boston Celtics this summer, and it isn’t one I saw coming. Does anyone have any interest in kicking the tires on a former number one overall pick and 3 time All Star?
via Marc Stein
League sources say that the Suns have also had some recent dialogue with former All-Star Ben Simmons, who I’m told has drawn interest since free agency began from Boston, New York and Sacramento.
Simmons has had an interesting career to date. Starting off as one of the great talents in the game, but has battled injuries and mental health struggles which have derailed his progress. This past year he was bought out from his Nets contract and signed with the LA Clippers.
From MassLive
Simmons averaged 5.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 51 contests split between the Nets and Clippers. He was a minor part of the Clippers rotation off the bench in the postseason but did little with those minutes, averaging just 0.8 points in eight minutes per game in just five appearances over the Clippers seven-game series loss to the Nuggets.
These are the sorts of flyers a team like the Celtics can take in a gap year like this one. It is low risk, potentially high reward. Simmons gets to recoup his value by proving himself in a low pressure situation, with the potential to hang on when the team gets Jayson Tatum back.
What the contract would look like is unclear. The most straightforward path would be a veterans minimum deal. I’m skeptical that the Celtics would want to free up room to give him any more than that, unless there are already other deals in place.
Speaking of which, another nugget that Stein shared is that the Celtics are continuing to shop Anfernee Simons around the league. That has been reported before, but it is interesting that there’s still smoke coming from that particular rumor.
Brad Stevens is certainly looking for every little opportunity to build this team up. It could be a very interesting year from a roster churn perspective.