Starting down an historically brutal payroll for 2025-26 while being without their best player, the Boston Celtics made a bold move earlier this summer.

With six-time All-Star Jayson Tatum anticipated to be sidelined by an Achilles tendon tear for most or all of the year, Boston took stock of its salaries and made a tough decision, flipping the contracts of starters Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis to save cash.

Porzingis, a 7-foot-2 two-way center, was flipped to the Atlanta Hawks for a future second rounder and forward Georges Niang.

Holiday, a 6-foot-4 All-Defensive Team guard, was moved to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for combo guard Anfernee Simons — a talented scorer but a sieve on the other end.

But the signings of free agents Luka Garza and Josh Minott have put the Celtics above the NBA's punitive second luxury tax apron again, even after the team's deals of Porzingis and Holiday initially helped Boston duck beneath it.

As Caleb Nixon of ClutchPoints posits, Simons could soon be rerouted to help Boston dip below the second luxury tax apron again.

ClutchPoints' Bailey Bassett submits that the Washington Wizards, with their growing assembly of young talent, may be an intriguing Simons trade partner for the Celtics.

Wizards receive: Anfernee Simons

Celtics receive: Corey Kispert, Richaun Holmes, two future second round draft picks

Simons, who's on an expiring $27.7 million deal this season, is the best player in the deal, but the additions of Kispert and Holmes would fulfill two positions of need for Boston.

"Richaun Holmes is under contract for two more seasons, and Kispert won't hit the open market until after the 2028-29 season, so both of them could have an impact on the Celtics' roster upon Tatum's return," writes Bassett. "Boston is particularly thin at the center position, so Holmes could have a big role with the team if he were acquired."

A springy big man who never quite delivered on his physical gifts, the 31-year-old Holmes was a deep-bench reserve on a bad Wizards team. The 6-foot-10 big man appeared in just 31 contests for the Wizards, averaging 7.4 points on 64.7 percent shooting from the floor and 83.3 percent shooting from the foul line, 5.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 0.7 blocks in 17.2 minutes per.

"Kispert would also be an intriguing option because he is one of the best 3-point shooters in the NBA, and Boston shoots more shots from beyond the arc than anybody else in the league," Bassett adds. "Kispert would fit right in while playing a Sam Hauser-esque role. Neither Holmes nor Kispert are near the caliber of player Simons is, but the Celtics don't seem motivated to make him a part of their core, and they are desperate to add more depth after a busy offseason of shedding contracts."

In 60 bouts for Washington, the 6-foot-7 swingman out of Gonzaga, 26, averaged 11.6 points on a .451/.364/.852 slash line, 3.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists a night.

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