NBA Trade Rumors: Boston Celtics looking to offload Anfernee Simons with Western Conference movers predicted as ideal landing spot

The Boston Celtics dropped two of their most important players due to financial reasons; Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis are gone, and Al Horford might either leave in free agency or retire. While they might need some scoring due to Jayson Tatum's injury, the talk is that they're not looking to keep Anfernee Simons.

In Wednesday's edition of "The Hoops Collective," ESPN insider Brian Windhorst revealed that the Celtics are looking to re-route Simons, who they just acquired from the Portland Trail Blazers:

"I have talked to other teams who have said they are actively trying to trade Anfernee Simons," Windhorst said. "Whether they can or not is another [thing]."

Jack Simone and Sam LaFrance of the "How 'Bout Them Celtics' podcast pointed out that the LA Clippers would be an ideal destination for Simons. They argued that the Clippers need more scoring after trading Norman Powell to the Miami Heat, so the Celtics could send Simons there in return for Derrick Jones Jr. and Bogdan Bogdanovic. Simone went into detail:

"I think a package of Bogdanovic, Derrick Jones, and maybe a couple seconds, if you could squeeze it out for Anfernee Simons, makes some sense. That is a tough return for Jrue Holiday, then in the aggregate, if you think about it that way. Bogdanovic, Derrick Jones and four second-round picks." (Timestamp 6:08)

Simons is due to make $27.7 million this season, but he's in the final year of his contract. He averaged 19.3 points and 4.8 assists per game last season, and he could provide a strong three-level scoring punch for a contending team.

Boston Celtics will likely continue to make tough decisions

Boston could certainly benefit from Anfernee Simons' scoring, as Jayson Tatum is more than likely to miss most of (if not all of) the season. Unfortunately, they're almost $20 million over the luxury tax, which is why they parted ways with some of their stars in the first place.

GM Brad Stevens admitted that the team was aware of their financial reality, and they knew they would have to make some uncomfortable decisions in the offseason:

"We've known for a long time that hard decisions were coming," Stevens said after the free agency moratorium ended. "The second apron is why those trades happened. I think that is pretty obvious. And the basketball penalties associated with those are real.

"So that was part of making the decision to push and put our chips on the table and go for the last two years."

The Celtics are still a deep team, but with their best player set to miss a big chunk of the season, this might be a retooling campaign for the 18-time world champions.