Bulls-Celtics Trade Grades: Boston Gets a Center in Nikola Vučević

Nikola Vučević is headed to Boston at the trade deadline. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Tuesday proved an active day in the NBA trade world. The Jazz and Grizzlies kicked off the fun by sending Jaren Jackson Jr. to Utah from Memphis for a haul of picks and players. Then the Celtics and Bulls decided to get in on the action.

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Tuesday afternoon that Boston is trading Anfernee Simons and a second-round pick to Chicago in exchange for Nikola Vučević and a second-rounder. It’s the second trade of the afternoon for the Bulls, who also shipped out Kevin Huerter and Dario Šarić to land Jaden Ivey and Mike Conley in a three-team deal with the Pistons and Timberwolves.

It’s not quite as big a move as the Memphis-Utah deal mentioned above, but it will still have big ramifications in the Eastern Conference. Vučević is averaging 16.9 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, while Simons is scoring 14.2 points per contest off the bench in Boston. Let’s break it down by grading the trade for both teams.

Bulls, Celtics trade grades in Nikola Vučević, Anfernee Simons deal

Anfernee Simons is joining a crowded Bulls backcourt after Chicago’s deal with the Celtics. | Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

Bulls: C+

Another deadline deal that doesn’t move the needle for Chicago.

The Bulls have proven active on the trade market over the last few years but have consistently failed to get good value for the players they’re sending out, usually because they trade them after their value peaked. Such is the case with Vučević. The 35-year-old center is a poor defender but has been a walking double-double throughout his years in Chicago and he’s a pretty good three-point shooter to boot, hitting 37.6% from deep on 4.5 attempts per game. There were rumors aplenty this time last year that the Bulls could get a first-round pick if they traded him. While it’s obviously impossible to know what was true and what wasn’t when it comes to the rumor mill of 2025 his value certainly appeared higher back then.

So Chicago settles for trading him now, and in what is effectively a one-for-one player swap since the picks cancel each other out. Simons is a talented young player but is a very similar archetype to Coby White, who is still on the roster, and would presumably take touches away from the just-acquired Ivey. Simons will also be an unrestricted free agent next summer so this could very well end up a rental. The Bulls are 24–26 and don’t figure to seriously contend this season so it’s not like they went after the scoring guard in an effort to compete for a championship.

It’s puzzling, which has been the theme of vice president of basektball operations Artūras Karnišovas’s tenure in Chicago. If the franchise was going to trade Vučević, why not do it when his value was highest? And if right now was the only time they could really get an offer for the big man, why go after a young guard who won’t be under contract after this season when there are already several such players on the roster? From a team-building perspective it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Moving White would make it more logical but even then they seem to be doubling down with both Simons and Ivey despite their redundancies.

The best-case scenario here for Chicago is that the 26-year-old Simons proves valuable enough he can be considered part of the future core alongside Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis. In a vacuum that’s a perfectly fine, and even good, bet to make in exchange for the expiring contract of Vučević. But in context of Vučević’s current value compared to past value, the presence of White, and the acquisition of Ivey not even being an hour old it’s pretty difficult to see what the vision is supposed to be even if more moves are on the way.

Celtics: C-

This appears to be mostly a financial move for the Celtics that makes one of the East’s top teams worse in the short-term.

First, the positives: Vučević is a good fit for what Boston needs right now. The C’s were linked to just about every center available before the season began, including Vučević, after they lost nearly all of their frontcourt over the offseason due to trades and injuries. Once the games started, veteran Neemias Queta proved up to the challenge as a starter and Luka Garza has been tremendous coming off the bench at times.

But the center rotation is still sorely lacking compared to other contenders. In particular Boston’s rebounding was a sore spot to begin the year. Vučević is a talented board-crasher who will help a lot there. Plus he brings a stretch element to the offense that’s been missing since the departures of Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford. Pairing him with Queta and Garza gives coach Joe Mazzulla a much greater variety of lineup options to play with.

Now, the downsides. For all the justified concern about the Celtics’ rebounding at the start of the season, they have patched things up; Boston now ranks 11th in rebounds per game and sixth in rebounding percentage. Gang rebounding might not win a playoff series but as the Celtcs have shown it’s good enough to survive in the regular season. And while Vučević will be helpful offensively he has always been a subpar defender. He’s certainly worse than Queta in that regard.

Losing Simons’s scoring off the bench is a big blow too. Vučević can score but he can’t fill it up like Simons, who showed off his flamethrower tendencies multiple times during his short tenure in green. Boston now sorely lacks ballhandling off the bench with Payton Pritchard pressed into starting duties thanks to Jayson Tatum’s absence as he recovers from a torn Achilles. The team’s cadre of bench wings has been a big success story thus far but none possess the skillset Simons did.

The money factor cannot be ignored, though. Trading Simons’s $27 million expiring deal for Vučević’s $21 million expiring deal saves the Celtics over $20 million in tax penalties and drops them below the first apron, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks. When Boston acquired Simons over the offseason it was widely-expected he’d be traded for this exact purpose but when the team performed far better than anybody thought, it was fair to believe that might change. Apparently not.

Perhaps this indicates the C’s believe Tatum will return by the end of the year. The move is more justifiable through that lens. Even if he doesn’t come back at full strength the superstar could probably score enough to offset the loss of Simons’s scoring combined with Vučević’s production. But we have no way of knowing that and thus can only judge the trade through the lens of how it impacts the team’s current ability to win.

The trade gives the Celtics more flexibility as they try to build another championship contender and Vučević addresses a weak spot on the roster. But Simons is a talented enough scorer he could swing the outcome of a playoff game or two when the postseason comes around. Vučević isn’t at the same level. Whatever you might think of Boston’s ceiling this season with Tatum sidelined for the time being, it was lowered with this trade.

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