Anfernee Simons starting role for Boston Celtics would be ‘slap in the face’ to proven star, claims ex-Blazer

Dorrell Wright makes ‘slap in the face’ comment over Anfernee Simons potentially starting for Boston Celtics

Prior to getting traded to the Celtics, Simons had a seven-year stint with the Portland Trail Blazers. Out of the seven seasons, Simons earned a starting role for the final three seasons.

Evidently, Simons’ expectations would be to have a similar role on the Celtics. However, Wright isn’t on board with this idea.

“I’m not rolling with it, to bring in a young gunner, he doesn’t know how to win. Bring him to a winning organization, he has been losing, period,” Wright said on The Timeout.

If not Simons then who should get those minutes? Wright believes it should be none other than Payton Pritchard.

“And then you got Payton Pritchard right there, that’s a slap in the face, in my opinion. You gonna start him over Payton Pritchard, the Sixth Man of the Year, who is proven.

“That’s crazy to me,” he concluded.

Pritchard had an incredible 2024-25 season, he even earned ‘superb’ praise from Bill Simmons. Keeping that in mind, it wouldn’t be the worst idea to reward Pritchard with a starting role next season.

Payton Pritchard vs Anfernee Simons – Who should start for Boston Celtics?

The easiest way to settle this debate would be to compare what the two stars have done in the last season.

While Simons had a lead over Pritchard in points and assists per game, let’s not forget how the two stars got their numbers.

Pritchard is a more consistent shooter from the field and deep while playing just 28.7 minutes per game off the bench.

On the other hand, Simons averaged his numbers while being a starter for all 70 of his appearances last season. He also played 32.7 minutes per game.

With that said, we would have to agree with Wright’s statement that it would be a bad move by the Celtics to insert Simons directly into the starting five over Pritchard.