NBA rumors: Will Celtics actually pay luxury tax after surprise start to season?

The Boston Celtics have been one of the early surprises of the 2025-26 NBA season, currently sitting at 18-11 after a recent home victory over the Indiana Pacers in comeback fashion. The Celtics weren’t necessarily expected to be very competitive this year given the injury sustained by Jayson Tatum, but Jaylen Brown and a Motley crew of unsung role players have helped this team climb the Eastern Conference leaderboard.

With this being the case, some have wondered if the Celtics might be open to paying the luxury tax this season, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars of salary they unloaded in the offseason in order to get below the second apron.

Recently, NBA insider Jake Fischer broke down the latest intel on that front, specifically regarding the contract of Anfernee Simons.

“The Celtics could opt to play things clean and simple and search for deals that offload the scoring guard’s $27.6 million salary to help Boston duck the luxury tax during Jayson Tatum‘s gap year,” he reported on Marc Stein’s Substack. “…sources with knowledge of the Celtics’ thinking say Boston could very well elect to keep Simons, too. I’ve been told that they are willing to pay some level of luxury tax this season.”

He also noted that the ideal situation for the Celtics would be to “somehow move Simons for a rotational upgrade and lower their tax bill in the process.”

Recently, ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel floated a potential trade idea that would send Simons to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for big man Ivica Zubac, who would provide the Celtics with an immediate upgrade over the largely unproven players they currently have in the frontcourt.

Of course, the Celtics’ front office still has plenty of time to decide on potential trades they want to make, with the possibility of a Jayson Tatum return also looming in the background as a remote possibility.

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