On the surface, the Celtics’ trade on Tuesday afternoon makes a lot of sense. They moved Anfernee Simons’ expiring $27.7 million contract to trim down the luxury tax bill and added a veteran center in Nikola Vucevic to a frontcourt that was solely reliant on two minimum contract players with zero proven track record in the NBA.
Business-wise, it checks a lot of boxes, but it’s frustrating to give up on such a fun player in Simons who has been excellent this season. The vibes around the team have been amazing as they’ve overachieved in a major way, and Ant has been a huge part of that.
It’s also frustrating that the return was a 35-year-old big man who’s well past his prime, may not be much of an upgrade (if at all) over Luka Garza, and is on a $21.5 million expiring contract of his own. If the Celtics were going to move Simons for a big man making that much money, the hope was that it would have at least been the clear starting center of the future. Vooch is almost certainly not that.
Further adding to that frustration is the fact that, despite the deal being reported initially by Shams Charania as having a 2nd round pick coming and going from each team, we now know the value in [those picks is quite different.](https://x.com/KeithSmithNBA/status/2018802366989177141?s=20)
Boston received the Nuggets’ 2027 2nd-round pick, which will likely fall in the late 50s. The Celtics gave up a pick in this upcoming draft, likely from the Pelicans, that will likely land in the top 35.
Celtics now free to sign any player on buyout market
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But there are a couple of big additions for the Celtics that come with this deal, and they are flying a bit under the radar. By shedding over $6 million in salary, the Cs are now out of the first apron, which gives them the ability to sign any player on the buyout market this season.
Before this deal, as a first-apron team, they were only eligible to sign players who were making the midlevel exception, or less, prior to being bought out. That’s fairly limiting, as most players who hit the market are highly paid veterans on bad teams who wish to move to a contender.
We can’t forecast exactly who may become available, but obvious candidates could include Kevin Love, Jusuf Nurkic, Khris Middleton, CJ McCollum, and others. There’s also a possibility that a surprise player gets included in a blockbuster trade in the next couple of days, then becomes a buyout candidate in their new home (Draymond Green comes to mind).
TPEs are back on the menu for Boston
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The other big gain from this deal is something that has become a favorite for Celtics fans in recent years, another big Traded Player Exception! [Boston was able to absorb Vucevic in their TPE](https://x.com/KeithSmithNBA/status/2018805083669168158?s=20) that was created by dealing Kristaps Porzingis over the summer, so by trading Simons to Chicago, they opened up a $27.7 million TPE that they have one year to use.
It’s not the sexiest acquisition, but that’s a pretty big asset to use this summer or before next year’s trade deadline when Brad and company are trying to retool around a (hopefully) fully healthy Tatum.
In this current apron era of the CBA, having the flexibility to absorb a player making nearly $30 million could be hugely beneficial. So, in the moment, flipping Simons for Vooch may not seem very exciting, and in many ways, disappointing even, this may just be the first domino to fall in a much bigger plan. With any luck, we’ll see it start coming to fruition in the coming weeks.