Nikola Vucevic is not expected to return to the Celtics after a brief spring stint that ended with more questions than answers. The veteran center played 16 regular-season games in Boston and six more in the playoffs, but his run now looks like a one-off rather than the start of something longer.
That is why his name is back in circulation now. NBA insider Marc Stein reported that Vucevic is increasingly regarded as a certainty to switch teams this summer, and the timing fits a player whose stint in Boston was interrupted by a fractured right ring finger. He missed 14 games from March 8 to April 3, and Boston never got a full stretch to settle him into the rotation.
The numbers were modest but useful. Vucevic averaged 9.7 points and 6.6 rebounds in the regular season, while coming off the bench in 15 of his 16 games. In the playoffs, he averaged 6.2 points and 4.3 rebounds over six games, with his best stretch coming in Game 3 in Philadelphia, where he played 31 minutes and finished with 11 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Boston valued him enough to acquire him at the trade deadline from Chicago in a deal that sent Anfernee Simons and the pick that became 38th in the draft to the Bulls. That move gave the Celtics a floor-spacing veteran center at a moment when they were getting under the luxury tax, and it also made him one of the more notable midseason additions on the market. For a while, it looked like the fit might hold.
Instead, the spring closed on a sharper note. Vucevic received a DNP-coach’s decision in Game 7, and the Celtics were eliminated by the 76ers. The same player who was brought in for stability and touch around the rim ended up watching the decisive game from the bench, a detail that fits the larger drift around his future. He turns 36 in October, and a player with his skill set is likely to draw attention again, even if Boston is not expected to be part of the next stop.
The unanswered piece is where he lands next. For now, the Celtics chapter appears to be over, and Vucevic’s summer is shaping up as another search for a team that still wants what he brings.
