Will Anfini Simmons be traded? Celtics are working on tax avoidance

Anfini Simmons has a silky ball control, a precise shot, and is good at scoring, but he is very likely to be traded and leave Boston.

Alliance sources revealed that in order to further cut payroll, the Celtics wanted to continue reselling Simmons' 27 million expiration contract. Stevens, the Celtics general manager, wanted to keep the salary flexible through a deal and try to sign back from the free market, Connett and Horford.

Even after passing through the transaction, getting rid of the two major contracts between Holiday and Porzingis, the Celtics still had to carry out a lot of tax avoidance. So far, the Celtics are expected to achieve their tax avoidance targets, thus ending the process of super luxury tax (three times in four seasons have exceeded the luxury tax line, which triggers super luxury tax). The Celtics currently exceed the luxury tax line of $15 million, and they have to cut their salaries below the tax line, and if they want to sign back to Cornet and Horford, they have to cut their salaries more. At the press conference on Wednesday night, Stevens regarded the two veteran centers as an important part of the team and publicly stated that he was willing to sign a new contract with the two players.

Houser is full of uncertainty in the future of the Celtics. It is not difficult to find another team that does not have to pay taxes and use the middle class special case to take over Hauser's four-year, $45 million contract. But the Celtics are said to prefer to stay Hauser because he is an important rotation for the Celtics and a few of the best shooters in the NBA. The Celtics got Simmons and Nyan this week’s trade, but both players are candidates for the next trade and are likely not going to play any game for the Celtics.

Celtics were active in the first week of the offseason, but to keep Cornett and Horford, Stevens was ready for a deal after draft night. The Celtics are currently under the second tyrant line and have a little bit of salary flexibility, but they must cut their wages further to avoid taxes and retain two centers. Stevens said Tatum's ruptured Achilles tendon and his indefinite absence gave the Celtic more motivation to avoid taxes. The Celtics should avoid paying taxes for two consecutive seasons, thus avoiding the strict super luxury tax and laying the foundation for possible spending money in the future.

"The new boss and the old boss don't mind spending money," Stevens said Wednesday. But at the same time, Stevens also admits that many factors affect money spending, and that there are many things that are important. Stevens repeatedly stressed that the flexibility to get a salary is a priority for the Celtics during the offseason.

Celtics know that when they put together the 2024 roster, they will eventually face the decision to cut their wages. They are dealing with the NBA's strict labor agreements. "The problem Celtics are facing now is because the new NBA labor agreement does not allow a team to burn money for a long time."

"When players leave, there is always a bit of disappointment," Zelen said after Thursday's draft night. "But the rules are fair to all teams. We also have some great players, some very good assets. We are ready to compete with other teams in the future. It's always exciting when you know that the future will be in that position. I'm sure many teams in the league think we'll be stronger than we expected." Zelen also said, "We believe the Celtics can stay competitive all the time." Because the Celtics are as aggressive as the 2023 offseason.

"We kind of realized that over the past few summers we could have used the assets we had, the good salary situation, and the good players in the roster to plan and adjust," Zelen said. "We could have made a qualitative leap before the salary rules punished us. If we had taken that wise decision before, it had worked now."

Jay King (The Athletic)