The Celtics entered Tuesday tied with the Knicks for second place in the Eastern Conference. They decided to shake things up, adding two-time All-Star Nikola Vucevic in exchange for Anfernee Simons.
It’s worth noting that the most recent of those Vucevic All-Star appearances came five years ago. The 35-year-old center isn’t the player he was back then. But he still has some gas left in the tank and helps address specific weaknesses on the Celtics.
Did the Bulls get enough back for a player who wasn’t part of their future plans? Should Boston have held onto Simons, who was an important bench scorer for them? Here’s how each team did.
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Nikola Vucevic-Anfernee Simons trade details
Celtics receive:
Nikola Vucevic
Nuggets 2027 second-round pick
Bulls receive:
Anfernee Simons
Most favorable of Wolves, Pelicans, Knicks, or Blazers 2026 second-round pick
Celtics trade grade
The Celtics came into the season with a glaring hole at center after having lost Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, and Luke Kornet from last season's roster. Neemias Queta has broken out though, looking like a capable starting center. Luka Garza has been a good energy big man off the bench that does a lot of the same things as Vucevic.
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Despite how well Queta and Garza have played, the Celtics still needed a more proven option if they wanted to make noise in the playoffs. Vucevic hasn’t had much experience in that setting due to spending much of his career on struggling teams, but he has averaged 18.4 points and 12.4 rebounds over 16 playoff games.
Vucevic isn’t a good defender, which makes him less valuable in the postseason. He’s not a rim protector and doesn’t move his feet well on the perimeter. However, he has good hands and is a smart player who has been part of top-10 defenses before because of how well he executes his role within schemes. He isn’t capable of cleaning up others’ mental mistakes, but he doesn’t make many himself.
Vooch’s biggest addition is clearly on the offensive end. He’s been a streaky shooter throughout his career, but he’s hitting 38 percent on solid volume this season. He’s also knocked down several extremely clutch shots, winning multiple games for the Bulls.
Along with being a good stretch shooter that should fit well into the Celtics' system of bombing 3's, Vooch is a good passer and an adequate old-school post player whose efficiency is hampered by never getting to the free throw line. He should give Boston some different looks when their offense is stalling out. Joe Mazzulla was very good at utilizing a similar offensive player in Kristaps Porzingis (sans the free throw issues) during their championship run.
Possibly the biggest thing that Vooch brings is defensive rebounding. He's always been one of the better centers in the league at cleaning up the glass, which is an area that the Celtics struggle with. Queta and Garza are great offensive rebounders who bring energy, but Boston is ranked just 19th in defensive rebounding percentage this season.
Vucevic is a good player who should help the team in the short-term. This deal was also made largely for financial reasons though. The Celtics have tried to cut as much salary as possible this season, trading away many of their key contributors from their 2024 title team in the hopes of lowering their luxury tax bill.
Per Bobby Marks, the Celtics' tax bill drops from $39.5 million to $17 million with this trade. They get out of the first apron, and they are eligible to sign a player waived that had a pre-existing salary of $14.1 million or more. The Celtics threaded a fine needle, adding a player at a position of need and saving money. They also created a huge $27.7 million trade exception that they can use to add salary later on.
Simons was a good player for them (more on that below), but he was expendable as a bench scorer who was on an expiring contract himself and may not have had a long-term future with the team.
Vucevic may come off the bench in a similar role. The Celtics aren't getting an All-Star, but they are getting a smart veteran for a relatively low price.
Celtics grade: B
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Bulls trade grade
The Bulls have been extremely active during this trade deadline, making a number of moves to reshape their team. They are probably not done yet either.
Through that lens, trading for Simons is more understandable. Chicago had traded for Jaden Ivey and Mike Conley earlier in the day, and they had too many guards on their roster before making that move. The Simons trade adds yet another guard. That makes it even more likely that at least one of Coby White or Ayo Dosunmu will be gone soon.
Roster balance shouldn't really matter to the Bulls anyway. They need to prioritize their draft pick in a loaded 2026 class, and this should do it for them. Billy Donovan has adamantly refused to tank, and the team has generally overachieved with him at the helm. Now, they may have no choice.
Vucevic was one of the only centers on the Bulls' roster. All of their remaining big men are listed on their injury report. He was also by far their most clutch player. They should get worse with him off the roster.
Now onto Simons, who is a great 44 percent 3-point shooter and entering his prime at age 26. He should fit well into the Bulls' system of up-tempo offense. He's always graded out as one of the worst defenders in the league, but had made improvements with Boston this season and had earned praise from Mazzulla after getting benched for poor defense earlier in the year. He's still not a good defender, but he's not the constant liability that he was in Portland.
That type of offense-first guard has lost a lot of value over the past season. Teams aren't paying those guys big money any more, and the Bulls might not either. It's not totally clear what their long-term plans with Simons are. Ivey is a similar type of guard, and the Bulls will probably use the rest of the season to evaluate both players before making a decision on them over the summer.
The Bulls added $6 million in salary as part of this trade in order to get a very good second-round pick in this upcoming draft (currently slotted at no. 32). That's a good piece of business and continues their trend of stocking up on picks.
Vucevic wasn't going to be a part of this team's future. His trade market seemed to evaporate because the Bulls held onto him for too long. Getting anything at this point was the right move.
Bulls grade: B