Many fans thought the 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics would be treading water this season, waiting for superstar forward Jayson Tatum to return from injury.

However, through 36 games, Boston has risen to the No. 3 seed in the East and won two-thirds of their conference matchups.

The biggest story coming out of the Celtics camp now is if and how they plan to avoid the luxury tax.

Aside from the two 50-million-dollar men, Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the most expensive player on the Celtics roster is shooting guard Anfernee Simons.

Simons has been good this year, making 40 percent of his three-pointers and averaging nearly 14 points per game.

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However, with a base salary of $27.7 million, experts are wondering how long Boston is going to want to continue paying the player who has not started a single game this season.

He has emerged as the Celtics’ most attractive trade piece before the deadline.

ESPN’s team of insiders believes he will be moved and has identified a potential trade fit by way of the Chicago Bulls.

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“The Celtics are competitive enough that they shouldn’t dump Simons solely for tax relief,” Zach Kram wrote. “But if they make a trade to create some financial flexibility, thereby opening a spot in the perimeter rotation, the Bulls’ Ayo Dosunmu would be a good replacement in a subsequent move.

“The speedy Dosunmu could add some fast-break points to the league’s slowest-paced team, and his 3-point shooting (43% this season) and strong point-of-attack defense would make him a fit for Joe Mazzulla’s style.”

Dosunmu is in his fifth year in the league and posting nearly identical numbers as Simons.

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He is an inch taller, posts better shooting splits, more assists and more rebounds. However, he is doing so for a 10th-place team.

His salary is nearly four times smaller than that of Simons, and, like Simons, he will be a free agent come the end of the 2025-26 season.

This move would take $20 million off the books and provide a potential plug-and-play replacement.

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The Celtics control four picks in next year’s draft, should any potential trade partner need a pot sweetener.

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