Why the Boston Celtics pass on a Nikola Vucevic-Al Horford trade

The Boston Celtics are set at the 1-3 spots, and the pivot. Power forward isn’t an extreme position of need, but it’s not a spot on the floor that Boston has its long-term answer at this point in time just yet.

Al Horford, the current Cs 4-man, has been an irreplaceable piece so far through seven games this past postseason. He filled in for Robert Williams at center in the first two games against the Brooklyn Nets and has since shifted back to an all-important Giannis Antetokounmpo stopper role, though more aptly, he’s been a ‘Greek Freak’ traffic cone.

His contract is non-guaranteed in 2022-23, and he’s been the most popular trade candidate for different mock trades made by various websites. With Grant Williams behind him on the depth chart, it’s understandable why.

That said, Horford isn’t just someone to deal away recklessly. NBA Analysis Network’s latest Horford mock trade proposal qualifies as such to the Houdini. Take a look at their trade package to land Nikola Vucevic from the Chicago Bulls:

Why the Boston Celtics pass on this trade proposal

So you just gave the Chicago Bulls your veteran frontcourt leader, a future first-round pick, and a 2020 lottery pick to land Nikola Vucevic…so he can sit on the bench?

Robert Williams is the C’s answer at center and bumping his rim protection for Vucevic’s offensive contributions is a non-starter. Playing both together works way better in theory than in actuality. While Vucevic’s shooting should fit well with Williams’ paint scoring, neither are fleet of foot to the point where covering a tweener forward is within reason.

Dealing Horford could happen this offseason, but we’ve seen him yield guys like Ben Simmons in other mock deals. While that doesn’t feel 100% realistic at this point, Simmons is more in line with what Boston would be targeting than Vucevic.