One insider believes the Brooklyn Nets have room to add a past 20-points per game scorer.
The Brooklyn Nets appear to be ready to dump both their leading scorer and second-leading one on the veteran side. The franchise has Egor Demin representing the future and continues to increase their chances to land his past BYU teammate A.J. Dybantsa.
But is there room to add another sharpshooter if Michael Porter Jr. and Cam Thomas are moved off?
Sam Amick of The Athletic dove into who could enter the picture should general manager Sean Marks clean house. He believes a "lethal weapon" shooting presence could fit the Nets -- even as a "cheaper-salaried player."
That player currently shoots for the Boston Celtics.
"Anfernee Simons continues to be who he is: a lethal weapon as a shooter off the dribble and off the catch. After acquiring him in a salary dump this past summer, the Celtics have brought him off the bench, and he has put up stats basically in line with his career averages on a per-possession basis," Amick explained.
He later dove into what his "best role" should be moving forward.
"However, it seems clear his best role on a contender is off the bench because of his porous defensive play. He's not quite a good enough scorer to consistently lead a starting unit, but he's useful as a microwave bench scorer," Amick said. "He's been quite good for Boston in this role recently, and the team won't just give him away."
Amick presented an "issue" involving his salary with the Celtics.
"The issue is that he gets paid like a top-three option at $27.6 million per year, although he is in the final season of his deal," Amick said. "The main objective for Boston would be to remove Simons' salary from its books to get under the luxury tax. The team is about $12 million over the tax line and would look to take back a cheaper salary either to get immediately under the tax or to get closer to that line before the deadline. However, he's played so well recently that it would be hard for the Celtics to merely dump his salary for little on-court value in return."
Simons at one time averaged 21.1 then 22.6 points per game for the Portland Trail Blazers. He left the franchise last season averaging 19.3 PPG.
His numbers have declined this season with the Celtics. Now there's the feeling a change in scenery can help.
Yet by coming to Brooklyn, Simons could emerge as the new leading scorer and take pressure off Demin. But only if Porter is traded and clears the way for Simons.
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