The Boston Celtics will open up the Nikola Vucevic era on Friday night when they host the Miami Heat at TD Garden.

The big man will make his debut after being acquired from the Chicago Bulls in a pre-trade deadline deal earlier this week.

Speaking before the game on Friday, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla had this to say about what Vucevic's addition means to the group.

"I think it's just we're adding depth. We're adding flexibility. We're adding versatility. We're adding opportunity. With all of those things, we have to be ready to execute. We have to be ready to be flexible, physically, mentally, and we've got to be ready to get to different things."

A 35-year-old native of Switzerland, Vucevic is in his 15th NBA season with the Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers and Bulls. A two-time All-Star, he stands 6'9, but he plays the center position. Averaging 16.9 ppg this season, he's also pulling down 9.0 rebounds.

He's shooting 50.5 percent from the floor and 37.6 percent from three-point range. He averages 17.2 ppg for this career. The Celtics haven't had a true stretch-big man this season after moving on from both Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford in the offseason. Vucevic can shoot the ball from deep, and he can be effective in the screen-and-roll game, and he can also serve as a good passer from the top of the perimeter.

If and when Jayson Tatum comes back into the fold, Vucevic's presence should allow him to move more freely in the lane - the same for Jaylen Brown.

Vucevic has also played in 16 career playoff games, so he does have experience in big-game scenarios in his career, which can only help as the C's chase banner number 19 this season.

Boston is 33-18 on the year and tied for second in the Eastern Conference with the New York Knicks. They are just 4.5 games back of the Detroit Pistons. Boston has won four straight after sweeping the Mavericks and Rockets earlier this week.

The Celtics will play the Knicks in a marquee game on Sunday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. ET. The game will be at TD Garden and will be played early, likely to accommodate Super Bowl Sunday, which features the New England Patriots playing the Seattle Seahawks. New England is looking for its seventh Super Bowl championship and first since the 2018 season.

Remember to join our CELTICS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Celtics fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!