The Portland Trail Blazers aren’t done with their franchise reshuffling.
Just days after sending superstar guard Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks, Portland turned around and traded veteran lynchpin Jrue Holiday to another Eastern Conference contender — the Boston Celtics.
Portland now has a clear (and clean) opportunity to start a promising rebuild around Scoot Henderson and DeAndre Ayton and resources for the future. Meanwhile, Boston acquires another chess piece in a quest for a way-too-elusive NBA title. Ironically, Holiday might even be key to overcoming his former team in Wisconsin.
Let’s grade another pivotal deal that could have a lot of ramifications for the NBA.
The details
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, here is precisely what both teams received in the Holiday trade:
The Celtics get:
G Jrue Holiday
The Trail Blazers get:
C Robert Williams, G Malcolm Brogdon, 2024 first-round pick (from Golden State Warriors), 2029 unprotected first-round pick
Boston Celtics
After a couple of years of late-season disappointment, the Boston Celtics aren’t messing around anymore. They already showed they’re willing to try new things with a roster reshuffle centered around Kristaps Porzingis. They went even further off the deep end by acquiring Holiday, an All-Star caliber player and one of the better all-around point guards in the NBA.
In terms of fit, Holiday is perfect as Boston’s new “grinder.” The veteran should anchor the Celtics’ starting lineup on defense, taking on most top matchups with other guards every night. He’s also a more than solid facilitator with a third (or fourth) fiddle offensive game that works quite well behind Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Porzingis. On paper, with Holiday in the fold, Boston has an argument for possessing the league’s top starting lineup. The depth is a little thin with the departure of Williams and Brogdon, but that is clearly a sacrifice the Celtics are willing to make. Anything to break through with the franchise’s first title since 2008.
Above all, an arms race between the Celtics and the Eastern Conference rival Bucks after trading for Lillard could set up for an epic showdown next May/early June. That makes us all winners.
Grade: A
Portland Trail Blazers
The Trail Blazers continue charging head-first into a new era with another bold trade. Portland was not expected to contend this year, making recouping assets from a win-now quality player like Holiday a goal from the moment he was acquired. And after dealing Holiday away, it looks like the Trail Blazers and general manager Joe Cronin aren’t done wheeling and dealing.
For one, Robert Williams is expected to stay in Portland to help DeAndre Ayton, but Malcolm Brogdon is not:
That's the current tally on Lillard trade, anyway: Portland plans to keep Robert Williams to pair with Deandre Ayton, sources say, but there has certainly been interest in veteran Malcolm Brogdon and expect teams will be calling on him. Blazers are committed to young guards. https://t.co/7vYhYNmbmZ
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 1, 2023
That is an interesting angle, and it does make me consider what the Trail Blazers wanted to accomplish out of trading Holiday. Is acquiring a depth big man and another guard they wanted to flip again really the best they could do for someone as good as Holiday? I understand the priority here may have been more about wiping the slate clean and acquiring those future draft picks, but I’d like to have seen a more ambitious return with useful players that fit into Portland’s rebuild.
All that said, some of this sentiment could be considered nitpicking. Cronin and Co. did what they could this week, starting the Scoot Henderson era in earnest.
Grade: B-
