Boston Celtics Players React to Anfernee Simons Trade

The Boston Celtics agreed to send Anfernee Simons to the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday, in exchange for Nikola Vucevic. Simons leaves Boston having played in all 49 Celtics games so far this season, the only member of the team to do so. 

After the Celtics win over the Dallas Mavericks, guys in the locker room were asked about the trade, which is still not yet official. 

Jaylen Brown:  “Anfernee has all the respect in the world. For me, it's a business, but there's a human aspect to it, and since he's been here, he's contributed to winning. He's won us some games. He's just a great, great person, great kid on and off the floor, just humble. I hope he gets everything that he's looking for, just because he just fit right in with this group of guys in our locker room. He could have had different thoughts and thought differently, and his energy could have been different, and he was a great teammate and did everything he needed to do that we asked him and more and contributed to winning. So Anfernee has all the respect in the world for me, and I hope he gets everything he deserves.”

Payton Pritchard: “I love Ant. When you build a bond with a teammate, it's tough to see him leave, Like, you know, the Al Horford, the Jrue Holiday, Luke [Kornet], [Kristaps Porzingis], now Anfernee. You definitely miss them, but it's part of the business. So you wish him well, and then when you see them, you gotta go at them.”

Luka Garza: “It's still just always tough. You lose someone that was such a good dude, like Anfernee, it's always tough when a guy like that leaves the locker room. But it's just part of the business … I've been through it a couple of times now, so you kind of get used to it over time.”

Trades are tough in the NBA. Yes, guys get a lot money to do this job, but Brown is right about the human element to all of this. 

Look no further than the podcast these guys all recently did. Watch how they interact over their shared experiences.