{"id":540420,"date":"2026-01-24T22:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T22:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/540420\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T22:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T22:27:10","slug":"proposed-celtics-trade-sees-boston-deal-anfernee-simons-package-for-97-million-center-to-upgrade-from-neemias-queta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/540420\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed Celtics trade sees Boston deal Anfernee Simons-package for $97 million center to upgrade from Neemias Queta"},"content":{"rendered":"

Proposed Celtics trade sees Boston deal Anfernee Simons-package for $97 million center to upgrade from Neemias Queta<\/a> originally appeared on The Sporting News<\/a>. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Boston Celtics<\/a> have shocked everyone with how well they\u2019ve done this year, when they were written off after Jayson Tatum tore his achilles in the 2025 playoffs. And with Tatum\u2019s imminent return, they need to fill their hole at center.<\/p>\n

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Fansided\u2019s Eamon Cassels<\/a> proposed that the C\u2019s make a trade with the Brooklyn Nets<\/a>, and deal for star center Nic Claxton.<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0Proposed Spurs trade sees San Antonio go all-in this season, replace Harrison Barnes with $112 million 22.3 PPG forward<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The trade would look like this:<\/p>\n

Celtics get: C Nic Claxton<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nets get: G Anfernee Simons, 2026 first-rounder, two future second-rounders<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Boston Celtics have been one of the best stories in the league, and they could make another deep playoff run with Jayson Tatum’s return on the horizon. Nevertheless, the center rotation isn’t championship caliber\u2026Given Nic Claxton’s immense two-way value and Simons’ need for a new contract, I do think Boston would have to give up picks. Regardless, I think that price would be worth it, as it would increase the Celtics’ title chances significantly. Claxton’s interior defense, playmaking, and rim-running abilities make him a perfect fit in Boston,\u201d Cassels wrote.<\/p>\n

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MORE:\u00a0Proposed three-team blockbuster Warriors trade sees Golden State deal Jonathan Kuminga for $179 million 25.8 PPG NBA champ, would also replace Jimmy Butler<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

So far this season, Claxton is averaging 12.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, four assists, and 1.4 blocks in 29.8 minutes per game. As Cassels noted, he is a defensive presence in the middle, and a good playmaker for his size as well.<\/p>\n

However, the Celtics\u2019 current starter, Neemias Queta, operates pretty much at the same level. He\u2019s averaging 10.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.3 blocks per game. He also is $90 million cheaper <\/a>than Claxton<\/a>, so if the C\u2019s are going to upgrade from him, they need to get someone clearly better.<\/p>\n

Finally, Simons has become the sparkplug off the bench, so getting a true star is probably the only thing that could move him. Overall, this would be a good trade to keep in the back pocket, in case they can\u2019t land another true star center.<\/p>\n

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MORE\u00a0NBA<\/a>\u00a0CONTENT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Proposed Pistons trade sees Detroit land $179 million 25.8 PPG NBA champ, finally give Cade Cunningham true star teammate<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Proposed three-team Warriors trade sees Golden State deal Jonathan Kuminga for $90 million 14.1 PPG star forward<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Proposed Pistons trade sees Detroit deal Jaden Ivey-based package for $210 million star duo, would help Pistons challenge Thunder for top team in NBA<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Proposed Celtics trade sees Boston deal Anfernee Simons-package for $97 million center to upgrade from Neemias Queta originally…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":540421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[35027,3125,3124,220413,28462,14060,238571,37970,3360,11434,1260,36800,6274,7202,62,238570,238569,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-540420","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-anfernee-simons","9":"tag-boston-celtics","10":"tag-brooklyn-nets","11":"tag-eamon-cassels","12":"tag-golden-state","13":"tag-harrison-barnes","14":"tag-imminent-return","15":"tag-jayson-tatum","16":"tag-jimmy-butler","17":"tag-jonathan-kuminga","18":"tag-nba","19":"tag-neemias-queta","20":"tag-nic-claxton","21":"tag-san-antonio","22":"tag-sports","23":"tag-spurs-trade","24":"tag-star-center","25":"tag-united-states","26":"tag-unitedstates","27":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115952434758983501","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}