Author: Gabriela Carroll

Tyrese Maxey averaged the most minutes in the NBA last season, and VJ Edgecombe wasn’t far behind in 11th place.

Lightening their workload and building a deeper lineup was a key focus of Mike Gansey’s first offseason as Sixers president of basketball operations. That process has started in earnest by bringing in Anfernee Simons to serve as the third guard off the bench.

“Helping them out as much as I can, whether it’s handling the ball or being off the ball and giving them space to work,” Simons said, “whether it’s giving them a break and letting me go out there and have the ball in my hands, just doing anything it takes for us to be successful as a team.”

After spending his first seven seasons in Portland primarily as a starter, Simons was traded to the Boston Celtics ahead of the 2025-26 season and took on a bench role.

“At first it was just me figuring out what the game needs at that time,” Simons said, “whether it’s going out there and just being aggressive instantly [when] we’re struggling to score the ball, or whether it’s feeling out the game, just continuing to compete on the defensive end, and letting my shots come to me.”

He averaged 14.2 points in 24.5 minutes for Boston in 49 appearances before being traded to the Chicago Bulls at the deadline. Simons’ season ended soon after because of a wrist injury, which he said will not impact him heading into next season.

Simons also should help the Sixers’ three-point shooting, something the team struggled with for most of last season. The Sixers attempted 35.3 threes per game, which rated 21st in the NBA, and made 34.9% of them, which ranked 23rd.

Simons shot 39.5% from three on 6.7 attempts per game with Boston, which was more per game than every Sixer last season except Maxey and Paul George. That three-point shooting threat also opens the floor for Joel Embiid down low, with Simons as another catch-and-shoot option out wide.

“He’s a force in himself,” Simons said. “Most of the time, the attention is always going to be on him … I love to get catch-and-shoots, if that’s what the game allows me to get. It just makes it easier for everybody else, and it’ll be an easier job for me to be able to go out there and just space the floor for him.”

Simons also has experience playing with fellow new Sixer Jaylen Brown in Boston. After Simons was traded to Chicago at the deadline, Brown spoke glowingly of Simons as a teammate.

Simons, who’s 6-foot-3, knows he could spend time alongside Maxey (6-2) or Edgecombe (6-4). The Sixers also could move Brown (6-6) to power forward at times like they did with George last year. With a smaller lineup, he stressed the importance of being locked in and aligned defensively to counteract the height disadvantage, and said Brown is the “epitome” of a two-way player.

“He is going to guard the best player and go out there and give you 30,” Simons said. “I think that’s what makes him special, what makes him different. He’s going to come in and bring that championship mentality from Day 1 and try to instill that in the team.”

The Sixers stunned the NBA by acquiring Jaylen Brown in a trade with the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night.

The five-time NBA All-Star and 2024 Finals MVP has quite a history with the Sixers over his last 10 years in the NBA.

Here are a few of them of note:

History with the Sixers

Brown was the third overall pick in 2016, the year the Sixers drafted Ben Simmons first overall. The Sixers worked Brown out, but ultimately didn’t stray from the widespread consensus and drafted Ben Simmons. But after the trade, fans uncovered a few old photos of Brown in Sixers gear from that pre-draft process.

“It’s just another prospect who we wanted to see and bring into Philadelphia,” Marc Eversley, vice president of player personnel at the time, said about Brown. “He’s one of those guys who’s up in that area that we’re looking at. He’s a high-level prospect. As you saw today, he shoots the ball extremely well. He had a terrific year at Cal, and we just wanted to get him here in Philly and take another look at him.”

An All-Philly debut

Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley made their late night debut on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon after the Eagles won Super Bowl LIX. The other guest in the building that day? None other than Jaylen Brown.

@bleacherreport Jalen Hurts looking smooth 🔥 (Via @fchwpo/IG) #nba #nbabasketball #nflfootball #football ♬ original sound – bleacherreport

All three (plus the Eagles offensive line) appeared on the Feb. 11 episode, with Brown on set to promote a sponsor and the upcoming NBA All-Star Game. Now, they’re all in the same city.

Brown’s big social media presence

Brown is extremely active on social media, under the handle “FCHWPO” on Instagram, Twitter, and Twitch. The handle stands for “faith, consistency, hard work pays off,” which he’s used since before he was drafted.

His Twitch streams helped make him more accessible to his fans, but have also occasionally started drama, including with Joel Embiid.

Brown faced off with the Sixers often

During Brown’s tenure with the Celtics, they met the Sixers in the playoffs four times. Brown has an all-time playoff record of 14-8 against the Sixers, including three series wins in 2018, 2020, and 2023, and one loss in 2026. He averaged 22.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in the four series.

One day after the Celtics lost Game 7 to the Sixers in early May, Brown hopped on a Twitch livestream.

“Joel Embiid is a great player, one of the best bigs in [expletive] basketball history,” Brown said. “[He] flops. He knows it. This ain’t breaking news. It is what it is.”

Brown also said that the refs have had an agenda against him, which causes him to get called for offensive fouls on his off-arm push-offs.

“I’ve actually spoke to some refs and they said it was an agenda going into each game,” Brown said. “Anytime Jaylen brings his arm up, just from reputation, just call it. But Paul George does the same thing, Jalen Brunson does the same thing … I could go down the list. It’s a basketball play, whether y’all believe it or not.”

Bronny comments

The next biggest question on every Sixers fan’s mind is the lingering seed of hope that LeBron James could sign in Philadelphia.

At Summer League in 2024, Brown was caught on camera telling a friend that he did not believe that James’ son, Bronny, who had just been drafted in the second round by the Lakers, was a pro-caliber player.

Brown later tweeted an apology.

“It’s a flex to have your son alongside you in the NBA, it reflects greatness and longevity!” Brown wrote. “Bronny has all the tools around him to be successful. I look forward to watching his growth.”

“Our relationship has been pretty respectful, besides that [expletive] he said about Bronny at Summer League, but other than that, we’ve been all right,” James said with a joking tone. “I think he went on social media and said something about it. It’s all good.”