CelticsBlog film session: how Anfernee Simons could fit in Boston

Summertime in the NBA is about guessing, projecting, wondering, and having a little bit of fun. To project what a player could be on his next team is to look at the play calls his former coach used for him. Let’s dive into Anfernee Simons’ 2024–25 season with statistics and film. With past information, metrics, and videos, we’ll try to figure out what Brad Stevens saw in him—and how Joe Mazzulla and his staff could exploit his skills.

Born to be a Celtic?

Looking at shooting frequency numbers, Anfernee Simons appears to be a great fit in the Celtics’ offensive philosophy. His shooting splits are very similar to the team’s with 50% of his attempts coming from beyond the arc. It was also the case for Jrue Holiday last season. They share similar efficiency as well, with 1.13 points per shot attempt. The biggest difference between the two players comes from creation: Anfernee creates a LOT of his buckets.

Per CleaningTheGlass.com, Simons was assisted on only 38% of his made field goals last season—a similar rate to Kyrie Irving, Anthony Edwards, or Donovan Mitchell. That’s a huge contrast with Holiday, who was assisted on 65% of his made attempts. The young guard from Florida will probably be used on the ball much more than the now former Celtic next season. Especially with Jayson Tatum out, Simons could lead the Celtics in pull-up three volume.

With almost five pull-up three-point attempts per game last season, Simons will likely be the one handling the ball against drop defenses. Here, for example, is a play against the San Antonio Spurs where the Trail Blazers draw up a double drag action. It gives Simons space to pull up from beyond the arc, thanks to Victor Wembanyama’s drop coverage.

Without Jayson Tatum, Simons might be the best Celtic in these situations next year. On the pick-and-roll, there’s also a chance to see him drive—but he doesn’t finish many of his actions at the rim. Only 19% of his attempts come close to the basket. Nonetheless, this could be interesting, as he has shown he can create those drives for himself, despite Portland’s below-average spacing.