Anfernee Simons brings shooting and bench spark. He hopes both make life easier for the Sixers stars.
Simons averaged 14.2 points in 24.5 minutes in 49 appearances for Boston, which including shooting the three at a 39.5% clip. He also has history with new Sixer Jaylen Brown.
Tyrese Maxey averaged the most minutes in the NBA last season, and VJ Edgecombe wasn’t far behind in 10th.
Lightening their workload and building a deeper lineup was a key focus of Mike Gansey’s first Sixers offseason as president of basketball operations. That process has started in earnest by bringing in Anfernee Simons to serve as the third guard off the bench.
“Helping them out as much as I can, whether it’s handling the ball or being off the ball and giving them space to work,” Simons said, “whether it’s giving them a break and letting me go out there and have the ball in my hands, just doing anything it takes for us to be successful as a team.”
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After spending most of his seven seasons in Portland primarily as a starter, Simons was traded to the Boston Celtics ahead of the 2025-26 season and took on a bench role.
“At first it was just me figuring out what the game needs at that time,” Simons said, “whether it’s going out there and just being aggressive instantly [when] we’re struggling to score the ball, or whether it’s feeling out the game, just continuing to compete on the defensive end, and letting my shots come to me.”
He averaged 14.2 points in 24.5 minutes for Boston in 49 appearances before being traded to the Chicago Bulls at the deadline. Simons’ season ended soon after because of a wrist injury, which he said will not impact him heading into next season.
Simons should also help the Sixers’ three-point shooting, something the team struggled with for most of last year. The Sixers attempted 35.3 threes per game last year, which rated 21st in the NBA, and made 34.9% of them, good for 23rd in the NBA.
Simons shot 39.5% from three last year with Boston, averaged 6.7 attempts, which is more than every Sixers last season except Maxey and Paul George. That three-point shooting threat also opens the floor for Joel Embiid down low, with Simons as another catch-and-shoot option out wide.
“He’s a force in himself,“ Simons said. ”Most of the time, the attention is always going to be on him... I love to get catch and shoots, if that’s what the game allows me to get. It just makes it easier for everybody else, and it’ll easier job for me to be able to go out there and just space the floor for him."
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Simons also has experience playing with fellow new Sixer Jaylen Brown in Boston. After Simons was traded to Chicago at the deadline, Brown spoke glowingly of Simons as a teammate.
Simons, who stands at 6-foot-3, knows he could spend time alongside Maxey (6-2) or Edgecombe (6-4). The Sixers could also move Brown to the power forward spot at times like they did with George last year. With a smaller lineup, he stressed the importance of being locked in and aligned defensively to counteract the height disadvantage, and said Brown is the “epitome” of a two-way player.
“He is going to guard the best player and go out there and give you 30,” Simons said. “I think that’s what makes him special, what makes him different. He’s going to come in and bring that championship mentality from day one and try to instill that in the team.”
