31to6 wrote:Dogen wrote:Bad-Thoma wrote:
It's either a win/win or a lose/lose. Or maybe a meh/meh. Definitely one of those.
Seriously though, if the worst thing that happens is he plays this season and Brad can't find a taker his money (Jrue's money) comes off the books and that's not the end of the world. What's more likely to happen IMO is he'll get traded for a meh return that won't amount to much more than him coming off the books but will give us a little more flexibility, like a long shot prospect and an exception or something. So definitely a win/win... or a lose/lose... or something.
Bad-Thomas, that's what we're here for, to "ignite discussion". And in the dog days of August, the Simons status is about all we got in terms of debatable topics -- will he be traded, and when, and will he start, will he play defense, etc.
The team brass has bigger fish to fry with new ownership and all. I agree with you both, it's fine to go into the season with Simons, see what we have in him. Does he want to play D and increase his skill and value? Is he ok with a 6th man role? If a good deal comes up in September where he is moveable for a better contract, fine. If he plays well, but a deal comes up by the deadline, that's fine. If he plays through the season and comes off the books, that's not such a bad outcome. If he plays through the season, he's happy with his role, and the Celtics want to keep him, he could sign for a friendly deal and become a valuable spark plug off the bench -- the kind of player the Celtics have needed at an affordable contract.
So I assume Brad is willing to play the long game here. The main basketball related argument I've heard against Simons, aside from the defense, is that he'll be just good enough to lower our draft odds, but as I'd prefer to remain competitive. A re-signed Simons at a good contact would likely be more valuable in 2026-27 than any rookie outside the top of the lottery anyway.
'twas I who said I wasn't looking to reignite discussion, because there'd been about 4 pages of Simons takes not long prior, and I perhaps felt bashful about not managing to build off of what anyone had said there. But we all know how it goes here: you might write the most compelling argument ever on page 47, and by page 48 it's all being discussed anew again. So it is here with Simons.
All Simons has to do is learn to/start playing defense. If he does, keep him. If not, he's the latest Ricky Davis/Todd Day/Wally Szerbiak (not going to look up how to spell it I know there were at least half a dozen more consonants in there:)
But wait! Pritchard winning 6th man of the year while being paid $6.7M in the first year of 4/$30 is a valuable spark plug off the bench on an affordable contract. I demand satisfaction good sir;)
Oh, indeed, it is so, Venerable Discussion Igniter 31to6! Apologies, and flame on!
I think this discussion will keep percolate until (or if) we see Simons on the floor in a Celtics uniform. The Celtic youtuber jounalists circle back to the topic every few days, too.
And the longer his status issue drags on, the more I am warming up to at least seeing him do his thing with the current roster with an eye to having him resigned if it works out. It's probably going to be up to him. If he's good, many other teams will be interested in his services after this season, albeit not at his current rate.
For Celtics fans, we lost a beloved championship level player in Jrue, even if he is aging and has a ballooning contract. People hope to get something back for him, and Simons is the chip that Brad has to play this round.
If Simons plays through the year and all the team has to show for it is the resultant draft position and available salary cap, I'm fine with it, as that was always a possibility. If he's traded for smaller contract with value, that's better still. And if he proves many here wrong, shows development as a player to augment his existing skills, and expresses interest in continuing as supporting cast to our main core, that's the outcome I'm most interested in.
Maybe I've found a replacement for my Shulga avatar already? Imma wait a while this time...
