With the Boston Celtics offseason seemingly almost over, their roster moves have come under increasing scrutiny. The Celtics moved on from four members of their championship team and will be without star Jayson Tatum for all of next season.
They have decimated their front court, and they have done little to address their glaring problems. Luckily for the Celtics, they may soon be gifted the perfect free agency target to bolster their roster.
Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vucevic is expected to be waived at some point during next season if a team doesn’t trade for him. Considering that he has been on the trade block for at least a year now, that seems highly unlikely, and Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer recently confirmed as much.
Vucevic becoming available could be a big deal for the Celtics, who currently don’t have a starting-caliber center on their roster. While they may have to start next season playing center by committee, if Vucevic isn’t traded and he ends up on the open market, the Celtics could be a perfect landing spot for him.
Nikola Vucevic would be the perfect buyout target for the Celtics
Despite him being 34 and a half years old, he had what was his best season of the last few years of his career. He posted strong numbers, averaging 18.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, and shot 40.2% from three on more than four attempts per game.
Players that like that don’t normally hit the free agency market during the season. And, assuming the Celtics are able to guarantee that he will be a starter, he could agree to a minimum contract to play out the rest of the year with Boston.
That could be mutually beneficial, with him being able to raise his stock ahead of next summer and try to secure one last multi-year deal. Meanwhile, for the Celtics, they wouldn’t add any long-term salary to improve their team, and that will give them flexibility when Tatum inevitably returns for the 2026-27 season.
Given how desperately they need front court help, the Celtics should certainly hope that Vucevic does get bought out by the Bulls. Even if Boston does land Vucevic, they probably won’t have enough to compete for a championship next season, even given how laughable the Eastern Conference looks next season.
Still, it should raise their floor and increase their chances of making a deep playoff run with Taytum out.
