(The Score) The Bulls continued their busy Tuesday afternoon by trading veteran center Nikola Vucevic to the Celtics for guard Anfernee Simons, Shams Charania of ESPN reported.
The deal also included the two teams swapping second-round picks, though details weren’t immediately reported on that.
Vucevic, 35, averaged 16.9 points and 9.0 rebounds in 30.8 minutes in 48 games for the Bulls this season. He had been in Chicago since 2021, when the Bulls acquired him from the Magic in a trade that signaled their intention to compete at a higher level.
The Bulls did that in 2021-’22, when they won 46 games and reached the playoffs, but they were otherwise a middle-of-the-pack and play-in team for most of Vucevic’s tenure in Chicago. Vucevic is in the final year of his contract and was set to become a free agent this summer.
Simons, 26, was selected by the Blazers with the 24th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. He was traded from Portland to Boston last offseason. Simons averaged 14.2 points in 24.5 minutes in 49 games for the Celtics this season. He’s shooting 44.0% overall and 39.5% on 3-pointers this season.
Simons is making just shy of $27.7 million this season and is set to become a free agent this summer.