This is a continuation of Part 1 which you can find here.
Simmons and a shorter contract (like Chris Boucher) work around the same with Daniel Gafford and Klay Thompson. Here again, theoretically money can work if you transfer a small salary elsewhere.
The Celtics would get a quality big man and while Klay’s best years are behind him, he would be a welcome shooting threat. The Mavericks get some long-term money as they look to relocate around Cooper Flagg.
I don’t think any single deal works for any team but in the spirit of practice, the following deal works (using one of the TPEs). Simmons and Peyton Pritchard for Cam Johnson and Zeke Nnaji.
Again, I don’t know why any team does this, but if I were the Celtics I’d want draft compensation in return.
It’s not legal, but Simmons comes close on the money to Jonathan Kuminga and Al Horford. Horford (sadly) can’t be reacquired by the Celtics, so he’ll have to be moved to a third team. (Yes, I know I keep breaking my “only two teams” rule, but it’s hard!)
I don’t know that the Celtics would necessarily want to be the ones to sign Kuminga long term, but he certainly has some talent.
Simmons works for Fred VanVleet and Jeff Green.
FVV is out for the year but theoretically he will be healthy next year (under contract for another year) and Simmons will help the Rockets with another scorer this year.
Simmons works straight for John Collins and actually seems quite reasonable. Both have expiring contracts and I can see both teams taking flyers to find a better fit.
Collins isn’t the same player he once was, but he could be a useful rotation player going forward.
Simmons works almost as well for Jared Vanderbilt, Maxi Kleber and Marcus Smart. Only $26K off, so I guess it can be handled.
I couldn’t resist bringing Marcus back!
Simmons fills in for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and saves the Celtics $6.1M. The problem is that KCP has a player option for $21 million next year and his play has been very poor in recent years.
I don’t think it’s realistic, but you could get close to Simmons’ salary for Jaden McDaniels and one of his minimum contracts. I don’t think Minnie considered this and if they did they would probably want some type of draft compensation. The Wolves are another team with big contracts and small contracts which makes the math difficult to work out.
You can get close to the salary for Dejounte Murray by working with Simmons and Sheuerman. Murray’s injury timeline is similar to Jayson Tatum and he is under contract for 2 more years. New Orleans will have to shift into full sunk-cost mode (remember they don’t have their pick this year) and they’ll likely want draft compensation from Boston.
I would love to target Trey Murphy III who is making $25 million, but it would cost a lot of picks and there would be a bit of a bidding war if he becomes available. but you never know.
I don’t think the Thunder will mess with this team, but if Presti wanted to be flashy and trade out Isaiah Hartenstein, Simmons’ contract was about to expire. That’s not happening though, so I’m moving on.
Simmons works for Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neal. Both have 2 years left on their deals.
Simmons also works for Dillon Brooks and Nick Richards.
You could also just do Simmons straight up for Dillon Brooks and save $6.6 million this year (taking into account his $19.9 million deal for next year).
Look, that’s 3 business ideas for one team (something to create for those teams I couldn’t figure out anything for).
The Blazers are prohibited from re-acquiring Simmons, so this doesn’t work unless a 3-team deal is made.
Simmons works directly for DeMar DeRozan, saving the Celtics $2.9M this year, but adding his $25.7M deal to next year’s payroll.
I don’t think the Celtics will take on that salary for next season without at least exploring their options this summer, but you never know. Note that I tried to do something with Malik Monk coming back but couldn’t figure out anything that was viable.
Simmons works for Harrison Barnes and Julian Champagne.
Simmons also works for Keldon Johnson and Jeremy Sochan.
(shrugs) I’m losing my energy here, need to kick things off for the final stage.
Simmons fills in for Jusuf Nurkic and saves the Celtics $8.3 million this year (when both contracts expire).
I’m sure Danny would like to find an option out of this somehow.
The Nets in general have easily transferable, mid-range salaries and are clearly in rebuilding/tank mode. Since Michael Scotto piqued the Celtics’ interest in De’Ron Sharp, I’d point out that Simmons works out for Sharp and Terrence Mann and saves the Celtics $5.9M this year (but adds 2 years for Mann and 1 year for Sharp).
The Bulls also have some medium-sized contracts that you can mix and match. Kevin Huerter and Jalen Smith? Zach Collins and Trey Jones?
Well, here’s a 3 team deal that could make sense if the Pistons are serious about landing Lauri Markkanen. The contracts of Simmons and Tobias Harris for the Jazz (with several picks coming from Detroit), Markkanen for the Pistons, and Isaiah (“Beef Stew”) Stewart for the Celtics are expiring.
The biggest takeaway from this exercise is the difficulty in finding trades where the financials actually work. Simmons isn’t on a max contract, but he’s far from a bargain. My guess is he’s paid a little more for his role (but not by much – scorers get paid), so it negatively impacts his trade value. The fact that his deal is expiring is a positive effect. Many teams are at the top with a bunch of max contracts (or closers) and min types of deals, which doesn’t work without complex 3 team deals.
Note that I didn’t call this a cheap attack on Simmons. I don’t think he’s the best fit long-term for what we’re trying to do and he has a useful contract to bring in other players who can fit that vision better. Unless there are clear signs that he is willing to re-sign a team-friendly deal this summer (why should he?) then I think the chances of him being moved are quite high.
Will any of these deals actually happen? Probably not, but perhaps some of the players mentioned above could be involved in some way or the other. And if all my ideas are terrible, at least I tried. Rose bud.
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