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NBA Trade Rumors: Nikola Vucevic with Al Horford in Boston to Form Best East Frontline Suggested

| Jul 05, 2016 05:29 PM EDT

Al Horford and Nikola Vucevic

The Boston Celtics already have their star in Al Horford but they failed to bring Kevin Durant, or any other star for that matter.

There are some pundits who suggest that "star" is a relative term and the Celtics would be better off shaping their roster with players who would be a better fit-at the same time flipping their quantity of assets for quality players.

One polarizing player is Nikola Vucevic of the Orlando Magic. There is a debate on whether he is underrated or overrated. Despite averaging a near 20-10 in his career (last season, he had 18.2 points and 9 rebounds per game), he is not considered a star even in the East. Yet there are those who argue that his stats don't really help the team win.

One of the knocks on Vucevic is that his defense is questionable. This is probably why the Orlando Magic focused its free agency campaign on acquiring defensive big men. After the notorious draft day trade for Serge Ibaka, the Magic unleashed a surprise in free agency by signing Bismack Biyombo-another defensive big man.

The Magic now has a logjam at the frontcourt, and Hoops Habit suggested that the odd man out in that scenario would be Vucevic. While there hasn't been any reports of the Orlando Magic shopping him yet, they could be listening to offers or holding off until the end of the free agency frenzy.

Boston Celtics team site Hardwood Houdini had suggested their team try to trade for Vucevic. This was easy to support when they were still hunting for a blue chips big man and were linked to DeMarcus Cousins and even Dwight Howard (whom they almost signed). But now that they have Al Horford, is it still a good idea?

The Magic did not offer $18 million a year to Biyombo for him to be a back up. The plan was to start him with Ibaka. Coach Frank Vogel has a thing for frontline defense and he got to the Eastern Conference Finals with Roy Hibbert and David West. Vucevic might resent a bench role and this is where the Celtics can pounce.

Al Horford is a natural power forward who plays center out of necessity. He would be more effective if he played in position especially beside a low post threat like Vucevic. The Magic could use Terry Rozier or Marcus Smart, a reserve center like Jordan Mickey and a second round pick for Vucevic, as suggested in Hardwood Houdini.

A Horford -Vucevic combination could be the best in the East, but a Dwight Howard revival paired with Millsap could have an argument. 

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