Lost in the shuffle of all the major trades that went down Tuesday, with James Harden moving to Cleveland, Jaren Jackson Jr. ending up in Utah, and Jaden Ivey going to Chicago, the Bulls made another trade that saw a former All-Star center change addresses.
Nikola Vučević is now a Boston Celtic, as the organization took on Vučević and a second-round selection for Anfernee Simons and a second-round selection.
(Confused about the second-round swap? We’ll get to it.)
Let’s get into some trade grades.
Chicago Bulls: B
The Bulls did Boston a solid by easing its tax burden, taking on over $6 million in salary in the swap.
You’d think lowering Boston’s tax bill would be worth a second-rounder outright, but apparently not in this economy.
That said, the Bulls did move up, and significantly so.
The Celtics relinquished a second, courtesy of the New Orleans Pelicans, which is currently slotted to land at No. 32, and the Celtics walk away with a 2027 second via Denver, which is expected to be low.
It’s unclear if Simons will play a role in Chicago moving forward. His expiring contract, worth $27.6 million, is a number he’s highly unlikely to receive again in free agency, meaning the Bulls could possibly get him back at a decent price.
For the rest of this season, Simons does work within Chicago’s fast-paced offense in which it shoots a lot of 3-pointers and has a keen focus on offensive volume.
Will he get minutes alongside the recently acquired Ivey? Time will tell, but the Bulls currently have one of the deepest backcourts in the league from an offensive perspective.
Boston Celtics: B+
Look, this team needed a center, especially one who can stretch the floor. Vučević can do that. He’s hit 39.1% of those shots over his last 121 games and is getting them up at a decent volume (4.5 per), which fits well with how Boston plays.
Vučević also provides the team with strong rebounding (10.4 for his career) and can string together nice passing patterns.
He’ll give the Celtics an interior offensive boost they’ve lacked for a while, all while the organization saves money on its tax bill.
Yes, the Celtics did give up a high second in what could be an absolutely loaded draft, but if that means solving an issue and getting a more streamlined cap sheet, so be it. That should be worth it at the end of the day.
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