The Boston Celtics have been terrific this season, but one of their key contributors is gone after Anfernee Simons was traded to the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday.
The Celtics are getting two-time All-Star Nikola Vucevic in return, but the loss of Simons still stings. With reigning Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard moving to the starting five this season, Simons did a great job replacing him on Boston’s bench, averaging 14.2 points and appearing in all 49 of the team’s games.
After scoring 26 points and helping beat the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night, Pritchard shared his thoughts on the trade with the media.
“Love Ant. When you build a bond with your teammates, it’s tough to see them leave — the Al Horfords, the Jrue Holiday, Luke, KP, now Anfernee, you definitely miss them, but it’s part of the business,” Pritchard told reporters. “So, you wish him well, and then when you see him, you gotta go at him.”
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As Pritchard said, he’s had to say goodbye to a lot of teammates recently. After enjoying remarkable continuity over the last two seasons, the Celtics moved on from Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet last summer. They acquired Simons in the Holiday trade with the Portland Trail Blazers, but now he’s gone as well.
That’s life in the NBA, unfortunately. Teammates are always coming and going, and Simons was considered a trade candidate as soon as he arrived. Still, that doesn’t make losing him any easier or less painful for a Boston team that’s formed tremendous chemistry this season.
Fortunately, the Celtics didn’t seem to miss Simons too much on the court on Tuesday. Hopefully that’s the case on Wednesday as well when they face the Houston Rockets on the second night of their back-to-back.
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