Is Jrue Holiday the missing piece the Celtics have been waiting to receive?

The Boston Celtics continued an offseason reworking Sunday by agreeing to purchase All-Star guard Jrue Holiday from Portland.

With the Trail Blazers trying to transfer Holiday after netting him in the Damian Lillard blockbuster final week, the Boston entrance workplace struck rapidly. In a commerce that can reshape the Celtics’ imaginative and prescient for the coming season, the group agreed to ship Malcolm Brogdon, Robert Williams III, Golden State’s 2024 first-round draft decide and an unprotected 2029 first-round decide to Portland.

OFFICIAL: Trail Blazers Acquire Robert Williams III and Malcolm Brogdon

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— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) October 1, 2023

The Celtics weren’t alone in pursuing Holiday after it turned clear the Blazers deliberate to discover a new residence for him. The 33-year-old drew curiosity from a protracted record of playoff groups, together with the Clippers and 76ers. The sturdy marketplace for Holiday possible contributed to the hefty price ticket Boston wanted to pay. Two league sources, who had been granted anonymity so as to converse freely, stated the Celtics wouldn’t have been in a position to push the commerce to the end line with out providing Williams. To land Holiday, Boston additionally wanted to half methods with Brogdon, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year award winner, and vital draft capital. The quantity of worth the Celtics traded raised some eyebrows round the league, however so did the concept of Holiday becoming a member of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in Boston.

The Celtics paid up to land a two-way affect participant who they hope may also help ship a championship. Holiday, 33, averaged 19.3 factors, 7.4 assists and 5.1 rebounds per sport for Milwaukee final season whereas making the All-Star Game for the second time in his profession. Widely thought to be one in every of the league’s greatest defensive guards, he additionally was voted onto the First Team All-Defense for the third time.

He ought to substitute the versatility and tenacity Boston misplaced by buying and selling Marcus Smart earlier in the offseason. Heck, Holiday’s one in every of the solely guards in the NBA who may very well be an improve from Smart at his greatest on that finish of the courtroom. With Derrick White, the Celtics will have two All-Defensive group members in the backcourt subsequent to their two All-NBA wings. Add in Kristaps Porziņģis and Al Horford, who will lead the inside resistance, and Boston has the makings of one other elite protection after ending second on that finish of the courtroom final season.

The Celtics will nonetheless miss Williams’ capability to shut down the paint. As productive and environment friendly as Brogdon was final season, the lack of the 25-year-old shot blocker may hit Boston tougher. When wholesome, Williams is one in every of the few huge males who pairs elite shot-blocking expertise with ft fast sufficient to keep in entrance of guards on the perimeter. Even whereas he handled harm points final season, his capability to rework the Celtics shined by way of; they blasted opponents by 11.4 factors per 100 possessions with him on the courtroom. It was the second straight season they’d a double-digit web score with Williams in the lineup.

With him, Porziņģis and Horford in the frontcourt, the Celtics spent the summer season planning to use a gradual food regimen of double-big lineups loaded with rim safety. The addition of Holiday will possible lead to extra common use of smaller lineups, although Joe Mazzulla will nonetheless have the choice of pairing Porziņģis subsequent to Horford and even backup middle Luke Kornet. Williams’ departure ought to depart Kornet with a much bigger function than anticipated.

The commerce additionally freed up one other roster spot, which the Celtics may use to replenish a few of the frontcourt depth. They have reached an settlement to carry huge man Wenyen Gabriel to coaching camp, as The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported. Other established facilities nonetheless accessible embrace Bismack Biyombo, Dewayne Dedmon and Gorgui Deng. Blake Griffin, who the Celtics deeply appreciated final season for his assist each on and off the courtroom, additionally stays unsigned.

Gabriel’s robust play for South Sudan in the FIBA World Cup this summer season helped safe the group’s first-ever spot in the 2024 Olympics. Gabriel averaged 9.2 factors and 6.8 rebounds for South Sudan, and has labored out for the Celtics in Boston in latest weeks. https://t.co/8etl9lFNRo

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 1, 2023

While Williams had the larger commerce worth of the two gamers Boston despatched to Portland, Brogdon actually wasn’t only a throwaway. He completed fourth in the NBA in 3-point share whereas averaging 14.9 factors per sport off the Celtics bench. Before coping with an elbow situation late in the playoffs, Brogdon scored a minimum of 12 factors in 13 of Boston’s first 15 playoff video games. He offered regular, immediate offense for the Celtics second unit, however the relationship between him and the group grew difficult this summer season after the group practically traded him to the Clippers, as The Athletic’s Jared Weiss wrote in a narrative about Brogdon’s departure. That’s now not a difficulty for Boston.

The Celtics received’t be as deep after this commerce, however their prime six gamers (in some order: White, Holiday, Tatum, Brown, Porziņģis, Horford) may signify the league’s greatest core. Beyond that nucleus, Joe Mazzulla will want to hash out the again finish of a rotation that can possible embrace Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, Oshae Brissett and/or Kornet with a number of different gamers vying for minutes behind them.

Boston’s beginning lineup remains to be to be decided. Mazzulla may go smaller with White and Holiday in the backcourt or bigger with Horford subsequent to Porziņģis in the frontcourt. Either approach, the Celtics ought to have nothing however two-way gamers of their first unit with the choice to toggle forwards and backwards between larger and smaller lineups. Mazzulla will want to tweak a few of his concepts for the coming season to match Holiday into the plans and to account for Williams’ absence, however Boston believes Holiday may very well be the missing piece. The Celtics moved two gifted and productive gamers to purchase him, however each have well being issues shifting ahead. Though Holiday’s age comes with issues of its personal, he has usually been fairly sturdy all through his profession.

Beyond the chance that Williams reaches his appreciable potential elsewhere, is there a potential draw back to this deal for Boston? The Celtics had been lined up to construct an identification round dimension and out of doors capturing, however misplaced a few of every trait on this commerce. They now have much less frontcourt insurance coverage in case the 37-year-old Horford begins to expertise a major decline or Porziņģis offers with harm issues once more. Holiday has been a strong 3-point shooter throughout the common season (he shot a minimum of 38 % from deep throughout every of his three seasons in Milwaukee) however hasn’t sustained that kind of accuracy throughout the playoffs. His postseason capturing percentages are literally form of bleak; he hasn’t shot higher than 32 % from behind the arc throughout a single postseason since he was with the 76ers greater than a decade in the past.

Over three playoff runs with the Bucks, he shot a mixed 39.6 % from the subject. His profession true capturing in the playoffs is 50.2 %, lower than Smart’s playoff true capturing of 53.2 %. That may change into an issue if Holiday is once more pressured into inefficient scoring throughout the video games that matter most.

On the same subject, a Celtics-Bucks collection would now be epic. It’s fairly a growth that Milwaukee’s determination to supply Holiday for Lillard additionally ended up not directly serving to the Celtics, the Bucks’ chief competitors in the East.

Even with stretches of ugly playoff capturing, Holiday helped the Bucks win a championship. He is thought to be one in every of the NBA’s greatest teammates and locker room forces. And he’ll give the Celtics one other one in every of the league’s premier perimeter stoppers, making their protection one in every of the league’s most switchable but once more. Though he solely has one 12 months left on his present contract at $36.8 million plus a participant choice for $37.4 million the following season, Holiday will change into eligible to signal an extension in February. The Celtics naturally made this take care of the hope of protecting him long-term. They see Holiday as an excellent complement to their greatest gamers each on and off the courtroom. He was believed to contemplate Boston one in every of his most popular locations after the Bucks traded him final week.

After falling brief deep in the playoffs a number of instances throughout latest seasons, the Celtics determined not to simply strive once more with the same group. They shipped away 4 rotation items in Smart, Brogdon, Grant Williams and Robert Williams. They acquired two former All-Stars in Porziņģis and Holiday. The Celtics will a minimum of be completely different. They may be higher. And perhaps, simply perhaps for Celtics followers, they’ll lastly be ok.

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