Anfernee Simons, Boston Celtics
If the Clippers don’t want to trade Collins, then acquiring Boston Celtics guard Anfernee Simons could be complicated. This is partially because Simons is on a $27.6 million expiring contract and Collins has a $26.5 million expiring contract. The 28-year-old forward-center simply makes it easier to work with the math. However, it’s also worth mentioning that Collins has been a rumored trade target for the Celtics since at least 2021.
With that in mind, there isn’t really a feasible scenario in which Collins remains on the West Coast if a trade between Los Angeles and Boston goes down. To make the salaries match otherwise, the Clippers would have to trade some combination of Bogdan Bogdanovic, Derrick Jones Jr., Brook Lopez, Kris Dunn, Bradley Beal and Nicolas Batum. Simons is a very good player but he may not mean more to L.A. than key defenders and shooters like Jones, Lopez, Batum or Dunn.
Plus, even if the Clippers offered up Bogdanovic, Batum and Dunn (Batum and Dunn will make more than Beal this season), they would still have to trade another player to match just Simons’s salary.
It’s not logistically impossible, but it is improbable.
As a result, this is the most reasonable trade proposal the Clippers can make for Simons is this:
Clippers receive: Anfernee Simons, Chris Boucher
Celtics receive: Chris Paul, John Collins, Kobe Brown
Here, Los Angeles lands a crafty combo guard who’s a natural scorer and particularly adept from 3-point range. They also open up a roster spot to promote two-way standout Jordan Miller to a standout contract. They’ll miss Collins’s combination of low-post scoring, outside shooting and shot-blocking. However, two-time NBA champion Chris Boucher is a versatile frontcourt defender whose athleticism and guard skills make him useful on offense as well.
