July 02, 2026
Kamil Krzaczynski/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Guard Anfernee Simons is headed to Philadelphia, too.
The Sixers are signing sharpshooting guard Anfernee Simons to a two-year contract worth $12.3 million, which will include a second-year player option, according to a report from Shams Charania of ESPN.
Simons, 27, is one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA, blending extremely high volume and shots with high degrees of difficulty with impressive efficiency. He is a smaller guard, listed at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, but brings a bench spark that the Sixers very badly needed. Simons had been a full-time starter dating back to 2022, but last year he came off the bench for much of the season and provided a significant jolt for the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics traded Simons to the Chicago Bulls, where he finished out the season before reaching unrestricted free agency and electing to sign with a team where his role is clear: he will be the third guard behind Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, giving head coach Nick Nurse an elite bench scorer and taking pressure off rookie Labaron Philon Jr., now likely set to be a deeper reserve.
The Sixers will sign Simons using the remainder of their non-taxpayer's mid-level exception after using the majority of it on free-agent forward Dean Wade. That means their signing of backup center Ariel Hukporti will come out of the bi-annual exception.
It cannot be understated the caliber of shooter Simons is; over the last six seasons, he has shot 38.4 percent from beyond the arc on 9.4 three-point attempts per game. For a Sixers team that severely lacked bench scoring and three-point shooting last season – they were in the bottom third of the NBA in volume and accuracy from long range in 2025-26 – this is a strong fit for what the Sixers need, even if it introduces another smaller guard into the mix.
Simons, of course, played with Brown last year and was teammates with Sixers forward Jabari Walker for three years on the Portland Trail Blazers. Behind a starting lineup comprised of Maxey, Edgecombe, Brown, Wade and Joel Embiid, Simons projects to be one of the more important bench players in the NBA. His success in a similar situation, backing up Payton Pritchard and Derrick White on a terrific Boston team last season, bodes well for his acclimation to that role in Philadelphia.
The Sixers now have 14 players on their roster, about $5.2 million over the luxury tax and just under $3.4 million away from reaching their hard cap at the first apron. Their remaining spending power on the free-agent market is effectively limited to veterans minimum contracts.
