BOSTON — The Celtics will be without one key guard for the remainder of the preseason as Jaylen Brown recovers from testing positive for COVID-19.

However, Boston’s top offseason free-agent addition Dennis Schroder will be back at practice this week according to Coach Ime Udoka after suffering a left knee contusion.

Schroder, 28, came off the bench in Boston’s preseason opener but was a late scratch for Saturday’s win over the Toronto Raptors after being placed on the injury report on late Friday with a knee injury. The team ruled him out before the game, opening up more playing time for Romeo Langford and other young reserves on Boston’s roster.

After the team went through a light workout on Sunday, Udoka did not sound at all concerned that Schroder’s injury would be a long-term issue.

“He just took a fall in practice the other day,” Udoka said of the injury. “He tested it out yesterday before the game, but he didn’t feel quite comfortable going, especially I was being cautious obviously with the preseason game. Got him some treatment today, he got it looked at, we’ll go through practice tomorrow and then we’ll determine what’s going on for Wednesday. But we all feel comfortable that he’ll be able to go. We’ll just test it out tomorrow and know more about it then.”

The Celtics have two preseason games in Florida, against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday and the Miami Heat on Friday. Udoka is eager to see Schroder back on the floor if he is healthy as he explores different potential lineup combinations for the second unit.

“Another thing we’ve talked about that’s worked well in practice, and we want to see if it can translate to the games, would be Dennis and Payton (Pritchard) playing together at times,” Udoka said Sunday. “Two playmakers and obviously Payton’s shooting ability. We want to see at times if we can get away with that smaller lineup, especially at the guard spot. So we’re looking at all those things in the preseason and we’ll look at some of those lineups in these last two games.”

If the veteran guard remains sidelined for the next week, there will also be ample opportunity for Boston’s young guards to leave a positive impression on the coaching staff as the calendar turns to the regular season as well.

76ERS: Rich Paul, Ben Simmons’ agent at Klutch Sports, and the 76ers are having discussions about bringing Simmons back to Philadelphia, a league source has confirmed.

The disgruntled point guard has been a no-show this season after telling Sixers brass in August that he wanted to be traded. A source said Paul and the Sixers have had discussions all weekend. He could return as early as this week.

Meanwhile, Simmons is putting his Moorestown house up for sale, according to a league source.

This comes after The Inquirer reported last week Simmons’ place at The Ritz-Carlton Residences of Philadelphia was listed on Oct. 3 for $3.1 million and that he planned to sell his Moorestown home. Sources said he would want to list it for $4.9 million. He paid around $2.275 million for the South Jersey home.

The main question is would Simmons actually play for the Sixers?

Even if Simmons comes back to Philadelphia, a league source told The Inquirer recently that Simmons still doesn’t intend to play a game.

“You are never getting the same player back in Philly,” a source said. “You definitely are not getting him back in uniform. Even if he was in uniform, you are not getting back the same player.”

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