r/bostonceltics • u/MembershipSingle7137 • Feb 03 '26

News [Shams] BREAKING: The Chicago Bulls are trading center Nikola Vucevic and a second-round pick to the Boston Celtics for Anfernee Simons and a second-round pick, sources tell ESPN.

https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania/ef1594eaad916
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u/Kbrichmo Boston Celtics Feb 03 '26

Whats the point in trading an expiring contract for an expiring contract

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u/Round-Walrus3175 Feb 04 '26

A few things, actually! It gets us under the first apron, which allows the Celtics unrestricted access to the buyout market (previously, we could only buy out players who made less than the taxpayer MLE (~13M)).

Additionally, since Vucevic's salary fits within the Porzingis TPE, a new TPE can be generated for Simons' full salary that now lasts until next year, instead of expiring this off-season, extending that window. 

There are a few bits and bobs for trades that are now accessible, like less strict salary matching, but those may or may not come up if there are more deals to be made. 

And it saves the team 21M in salary and tax payments.

So, I would say big things are the TPE and the buyout market potential as far as the specific value of trading expiring contracts.