Will the Celtics really pay the luxury tax after their sudden start to the season?
The The Boston Celtics were one of them of the early surprises of the 2025-26 NBA season, currently sits at 18-11 after a recent comeback victory at home over the Indiana Pacers. The Celtics weren’t necessarily expected to be very competitive this year given the injury maintained by Jayson Tatumbut Jaylen Brown and a motley crew of unsung players have helped this team climb the Eastern Conference leaderboard.
That being the case, some have wondered if the Celtics might be willing to pay the luxury tax this season, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars in salary they unloaded in the offseason to get under the second apron.
Recently, NBA insider Jake Fisher broke down latest data on that front, especially regarding the contract of Anfernee Simmons.
“The Celtics could decide to play things clean and simple and look for deals that free up the point guard’s $27.6 million salary to help Boston reduce the luxury tax during Jayson Tatum‘s gap year,” he reported on Marc Stein’s Substack. “…sources familiar with the Celtics’ thinking say Boston could decide to keep Simmons as well. I’m told they’re willing to pay a certain level of luxury tax this season.”
He also noted that the ideal situation for the Celtics would be to “somehow move Simmons for a rotational upgrade and lower the tax bill in the process.”
Recently, Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints floated a potential trade idea that would send Simmons to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for big man Ivica Zubac, who would provide the Celtics with an immediate upgrade over the largely unproven players they currently have in the frontcourt.
Of course, the Celtics’ front office still has plenty of time to decide on potential trades they want to make, with the possibility of Jayson Tatum’s return also looming in the background as a distant possibility.
2025-12-23 16:59:00
