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As soon as Anfernee Simons was sent to Boston for Jrue Holiday in the offseason, many people wondered if the Celtics would eventually flip Simons and his expiring contract before the trade deadline. That answer has been confirmed as yes, they will. The Celtics are sending Simons to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for veteran big man Nikola Vučević.
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The Celtics acquire some much-needed size as they continue to trudge through their cost-cutting and roster-gutting from the summer while still putting a product on the court that could win the East. The Bulls acquire more guards at this deadline and continue to flip expiring contracts they have on their roster. What does this trade mean for the Celtics and their pursuit of the East? What are the Bulls doing? Let’s grab the red ink and grade the trade.
Celtics receive Nikola Vučević, second-round pick
I like this deal for the Celtics because they’ve been relying so much on Neemias Queta to secure the center position. Queta has done an incredible job, but their backup options have been Chris Boucher, Xavier Tillman and Luka Garza. Garza is the only one playing consistently outside of Queta. That is not a frontcourt to be feared and it’s not a strategy you can rely on in the postseason. It’s also a stark contrast from having Al Horford, Kristaps Porziņģis and Luke Kornet the season before. The Celtics have a legitimate chance to win the East, despite gutting the roster this summer because of second-apron penalties and Jayson Tatum’s Achilles tear. Grabbing Vučević to help at the center position is a good, low-stakes addition to this roster. And it puts the Celtics under the first apron.
Vučević fits perfectly into what the Celtics want to do offensively. Remember all that stuff Horford and Porziņģis were capable of doing on offense? Vučević does all of that. Maybe not as well as Porziņģis when healthy, but he’s somewhere between what an older Horford and a healthy KP can give them. Vučević is a 35.1-percent 3-point shooter for his career, but he’s made 39.1 percent of his 3-pointers over the last season and a half. He can run a lot of dribble hand-off action, he’s a good passer, he can score in the post and he’s a great pick-and-pop guy for head coach Joe Mazzulla to implement.
Vučević is also a good defensive rebounder, an area in which the Celtics are greatly lacking. They’re just 19th in defensive rebounding rate this season. Vučević helped the Bulls be the fourth-best defensive rebounding team so far this season.
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This allows the Celtics to either go big with Vučević and Queta together or move Queta to the backup big, where he could feast on weaker big man options in his minutes. Vučević is an expiring contract, so this might just be a rental. Although it’s worth asking whether moving Simons and what he does on offense means the Celtics feel better about a Tatum return this season.
Grade: A
Bulls receive Anfernee Simons, second-round pick
Are the Bulls trying to create a roster mostly made up of guards? They’re acquiring Jaden Ivey in a different trade, and now bringing in Simons. Granted, Simons is on an expiring deal, so this might not be a long-term play at all. And the Bulls can absolutely feel the freedom to move Coby White or Ayo Dosunmu, or both in a trade with Ivey and Simons on the roster. White and Dosunmu are expiring deals and could be valued solidly in the trade market before Thursday’s deadline buzzer. I’m just a little surprised they couldn’t get more out of the Celtics.
Boston needed a big man and this allowed them to get under the first apron luxury tax threshold. They accomplished both in this deal. The Bulls facilitated this for… a second-round pick and a potential Simons rental? Even if they find a deal to keep Simons around, he’s a good player but not someone who is tough to find on the market. In fact, they might have a better version of that with White already on the roster. They’d have to come to terms with a new deal for either player. I’m not totally sure what the incentive is for the Bulls.
This has to be a trade before other trades, even though this is two trades for the Bulls, on the Tuesday before the deadline. This grade could get better based on what happens the rest of the week, but it doesn’t feel like Chicago maximized the position they were in with a deal like this for Boston.
Grade: C+