Four potential Celtics trades for Ben Simmons: Analyzing how likely Boston would be to pull the trigger

Is there a deal to be had between the two teams for the Australian point forward?

The Athletic’s Shams Charania recently linked the Boston Celtics to the Philadelphia 76ers via potential interest in trading for disgruntled point forward Ben Simmons, with Charania noting any such deal would require the including of Celtics star Jaylen Brown in return.

And while that suggestion went over like a ton of bricks among Boston fans and analysts alike, it did not rule out the possibility of such a deal getting done involving other possible options of contracts to be included. There are some significant obstacles to any such deals based on what we know about the two teams — least of which is GM Daryl Morey lowering his asking price — but it is not beyond the pale to think the Cs have interest for a different package for Simmons.

Any such deal would need about $26 million in salary going back; let’s take a look at some of the more obvious possibilities.