Nikola Vucevic Trade Rumors: 5 Teams That Should Trade For Magic C

2. Boston Celtics

To be perfectly honest, Serge Ibaka made more sense as a top trade target for the Boston Celtics, much like Paul Millsap would if the Atlanta Hawks weren’t dead-set on keeping him. This team’s biggest need is still at the 4, and barring a superstar trade that guts Boston of assets and rotation players, the best options may be off the table already.

But since we’ve already heard the Celtics have talked with the Magic about a potential Nikola Vucevic trade, we have to include a couple of potential scenarios that involve the NBA’s 28th-ranked rebounding team.

Though Vucci Mane would hardly help the league’s 18th-ranked defense in Boston, his rebounding prowess would definitely help cover Al Horford‘s deficiencies in that area. If the Celtics could get away with something like Tyler Zeller and a future first-rounder, they should at least entertain the idea.

Zeller is a fringe rotation player in Boston, but he’s a capable backup center who’d allow the Celtics to keeps their rotation intact while bringing Vucevic into the fold. The Magic would push for one of the Celtics’ first round picks from the Brooklyn Nets, but Vucevic is hardly valuable enough to warrant surrendering one of those.

If Zeller and a non-Nets pick isn’t good enough, perhaps parting with Amir Johnson and the same non-Nets pick would do the trick.

Johnson is a versatile defender and extremely underrated power forward in this league, contrary to what his 6.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game might indicate. He’s efficient on his limited touches, shooting 57.3 percent from the floor and 40.9 percent from deep on 0.8 attempts per game.

That kind of player could be useful whether the Magic want to compete for a playoff spot in 2018 or prefer to rebuild and need veteran presences for the youngsters.

Another potential option built around youth? A versatile stretch-4 in Jonas Jerebko, young point guard Terry Rozier and the seldom-used James Young.

Jerebko is a downgrade from Johnson, but he’d fill some of the same needs. Rozier is still only 22 years old, so it’s too soon to worry about his .370/.331/.765 shooting splits. Young would admittedly be something of a gamble, but a team like the Magic should be taking those kinds of chances as they undergo yet another rebuild.

However, Rozier was reportedly considered off limits in Boston’s trade talks with Orlando over Serge Ibaka, so foolish as it seems, it’s highly unlikely he’d be included in a Vucevic trade. Plus, a package centered around Rozier couldn’t possibly be the best offer Orlando gets for their big man.

The Magic may press too hard for a Brooklyn pick from Boston as well. The Celtics would wisely decline such advances, and if the inclusion of such a pick became the dividing line, a deal would never get done here.