Since the moment Anfernee Simons was acquired by the Celtics in the summer, it was clear that his stay in Boston may be a short one. The team was in cost-cutting mode and saw their top three centers leave town via trade or free agency. It didn’t make a lot of sense to have Simons in town on a $27.7 million expiring contract.
As much as Ant became a beloved part of this overachieving Celtics team, and as well as he has played this season, obviously, nothing about those original assumptions changed.
Jake Fischer has been reporting for Marc Stein’s Substack that Boston wanted to check three boxes at this trade deadline: they wanted to deal Simons and get under the first apron, they wanted to add a starting center, and they didn’t want to surrender a 1st round pick.
Technically, the Celtics accomplished all three goals by trading Simons and a 2nd round pick to the Bulls for Nikola Vucevic and a 2nd round pick.
Celtics duck under 1st apron with trade
While Simons makes $27.7 million this season, Vooch makes $21.5 million. The savings of roughly $6 million this season do wonders for the Cs’ tax bill, but they also, more importantly (for fans, at least), get under the first apron.
They’re still over the luxury tax, and could look to duck that completely, but it would still take moving a bigger salary like Sam Hauser’s or flipping Vooch again. That would be a tough pill to swallow, but if these moves are primarily motivated by money, it’s the obvious next move.
But even if they don’t make more moves, just getting under the first apron is a huge boon for roster-building reasons. The Celtics now face no trade restrictions at all and can take in more than 100% of the money they send out.
They also have no restrictions when it comes to the buyout market, whereas before the deal, they were unable to sign anyone whose contract, prior to being waived, was above the $14.1 million Midlevel Exception.
Celtics get proven starting center in Vucevic
Vucevic is certainly not the sexiest name on the market. At age 35, he’s well past his prime and may be one of the worst defenders in the entire league. But still, he’s an elite rebounder, a good post scorer, and a solid shooter.
He has started 48 games this season for Chicago, putting up 17 points and 9 rebounds per game. He’s not a big star, or a building block for the future, and he probably shouldn’t even start over Neemias Queta. But for the relatively small price the Cs paid, they did come away with one of the other 29 starting centers in the league.
Celtics save their 1st round picks (barely)
And in the end, the Celtics got this deal done without giving away a 1st round pick…although not by much. The pick that Boston did send to the Bulls was a very attractive and valuable 2nd rounder that will almost certainly convey from the Pelicans this year.
New Orleans is currently 13-39, just half a game up on the Kings for the worst record in the entire NBA. There’s no lottery for the second round, so that pick is basically guaranteed to land in the top 35, at worst. So technically, it’s not a 1st, but in terms of value, it’s basically just as painful to part with.
It looks even worse when realizing the pick the Celtics got back isn’t even a Bulls’ 2nd, it’s actually the Nuggets’ 2nd round pick in the 2027 draft. Denver is 33-18, and Nikola Jokic and the rest of that starting lineup are locked up for the future. That probably means the Celtics will be picking in the late 50s next year.
Factually speaking, the Celtics did check all three of their boxes with this trade, but I’m not sure Brad Stevens will be bragging to his grandchildren about this one.