The Anfernee Simons tenure has come to and end in Boston, as the Celtics have reportedly traded the veteran guard and a second-round draft pick to the Chicago Bulls for Nikola Vucevic and a second-round pick of their own -- according to Shams Charania of ESPN.
Simons, who arrived with an expiring $27.6 million contract via trade for Jrue Holiday last summer, averaged 14.2 points per contest on 44% shooting from the field and 39% from 3-point range to go along with 2.4 assists in 49 games played (all off the bench).
Vucevic, a former first-round pick (16th overall) by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2011, is currently playing in his 15th NBA season while averaging 16.9 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. He is knocking down 3-pointers at 37.6% clip this seasons on 4.5 attempts.
The 35-year-old, who has appeared in 48 games for Chicago this season and is the only player in the NBA currently with at least 400 rebounds and 80 made threes, is also on an expiring deal at $21.5 million
This reported trade comes less than 48 hours before the February 5 league deadline, and will drop the Celtics tax bill from $39.5 million to $17.7 million, getting out of the first apron threshold and are just $6 million away from being under the luxary tax altogether -- per league insider Bobby Marks. -- making the team eligible to sign a player waived that had a pre-existing salary of $14.1 million or more going forward.
While the trade has not been made official just yet, Brad Stevens will have reportedly used the trade exception that the Celtics got back when they moved Kristaps Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks last offseason to acquire Vucevic and have created a new $27 million exception by trading Simons -- per Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.
With this trade, the Celtics have addressed a need to add more depth to their front court that features the pleasant surprise play of Neemias Queta and Luka Garza. While Vucevic only has 16 games of playoff experience in 15 seasons, he still will be valuable come the postseason especially if Jayson Tatum does make his much anticipated return to the lineup for Joe Mazzulla.
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