Bulls might gift Celtics solution to glaring issue with rumored move

After trading Kristaps Porzingis, losing Luke Kornet to the San Antonio Spurs, and likely seeing Al Horford leave town too, the Boston Celtics are heading towards the 2025-26 season with a center-sized hole in their starting lineup.

Sure, they’ve still got Neemias Queta, as well as newly signed big man Luka Garza, but neither projects to provide the level of stability needed in a starter.

Yet, there is no current pathway for the Cs to fill said void. The free agent market is pretty dried up, and while someone like Ben Simmons would be fun, he’d still be undersized guarding the league’s best centers.

There could, however, be an avenue for Boston to bring in some additional help down the line.

According to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, the Chicago Bulls may be heading towards waiving two-time All-Star Nikola Vucevic.

“We’re probably more likely to see a Nikola Vucevic buyout mid-season than we are to see a trade,” Fischer said during a recent live stream. “Depending on how the market unfolds, depending on how injuries develop. There just really hasn’t been much of a Nikola Vucevic trade market in a while."

Sure, Vucevic makes sense for the Celtics, but do they make sense for him?

In a scenario where Vucevic is bought out, he would be a fantastic, cheap addition for Boston. The 34-year-old averaged 18.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game while shooting 53% from the field and 40.2% from deep for the Bulls last season. He isn’t a very switchable defender, but his offensive versatility would give the Cs an option unlike any on their current roster.

He feels like the sort of player who would help Boston stay afloat in this “gap year” while Jayson Tatum recovers from a ruptured Achilles.

If he were available, trying to sign him would be a no-brainer for the Celtics.

The real question is whether or not Boston would be a realistic landing spot for the Bulls' big man. Sure, there’s been a real winning culture built at the Auerbach Center over the last several seasons, but 2025-26 has outlier written all over it. After spending years on middling Chicago teams, why would Vucevic join Boston at one of its least certain times? At best, the Cs will be battling for a non-home-court playoff spot and could very well end up in the lottery. That wouldn’t exactly be a step up for the six-foot-ten-inch big man.

Maybe, he’d elevate Boston a little bit, but they wouldn’t instantly be contenders again by adding Vucevic, though it would be fun.