Although the NBA Offseason is coming to an end soon, there are still some big trades happening. One of these trades that took place this past weekend was Jrue Holiday going to the Boston Celtics.
This trade came from the blockbuster deal that included Damian Lillard being sent to the Milwaukee Bucks. The full trade consisted of Jrue Holiday being sent to the Bucks while the Portland Trail Blazers received Malcolm Brogdon, Robert Williams, a 2024 first-round pick from the Golden State Warriors and a 2029 unprotected first-round pick from the Celtics.
Who won this trade and what does it mean for both teams?
The Celtics are the losers of the Jrue Holiday trade. They lost a pivotal part of their defense in Robert Williams. The 6-foot 9 center provided a huge defensive effort during the regular and postseason, averaging 1.7 and 1.4 career blocks, respectively.
The two big men that are projected to start in the 2023-24 NBA season are Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford. Horford is a streaky player and, while he can stretch to outside-the-arc, he doesn’t have the consistency that the Celtics need.
Horford averaged 6.7 points per game on 38.6 percent from the field and an abysmal 29.8 percent from the three-point line. He is also 37 and does not have a high potential. Porzingis, on the other hand, does have a high potential if he stays healthy.
Porzingis has been known for missing multiple games during the regular season because he’s not very durable. While his shooting, agility and explosiveness at 7-foot 3 are unmatched, he hasn’t played 70 games or more since his rookie season. That is what hinders the high potential Porzingis has and it’s the reason that losing Robert Williams is so costly.
The Celtics haven’t gained much from picking up Jrue Holiday besides a minor replacement for Marcus Smart. The Celtics didn’t need another guard, they needed another big.
The Portland TrailBlazers, on the other hand, gained what the Celtics lost. They still have their young and improving team with Scoot Henderson, DeAndre Ayton and Malcolm Brogdon. The TrailBlazers have all the pieces with a young roster full of ambitious and athletic players with the potential for improvement.
Lillard is a great player, and he did a lot for the TrailBlazers ever since he was drafted. However, Damian Lillard played a lot of hero ball. Lillard would take shots from two steps inside of half court or very contested shots and that would sometimes cost them the game.
Now that Lillard is not on the team anymore, the Portland TrailBlazers have more space that they can do so many different things with, including building up young talent to get the team relevant and playing postseason basketball again.
The Jrue Holiday trade was a heavy one for NBA fans to take in and it plays a significant role in how each team’s roster improved or degraded. The Portland TrailBlazers are the winners and they have a bright, long future ahead of them.