Celtics choose talent over emotion with bold Jrue Holiday trade originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
In the NBA, talent is king. And not even a Time Lord can deter a team’s quest to stockpile as much of it as possible.
The Boston Celtics bookended their offseason with jaw-dropping trades that returned All-Star talent. Three months after acquiring Kristaps Porzingis in a deal that sent out defensive stalwart Marcus Smart, the Celtics secured Jrue Holiday in a deal that shipped off Robert Williiams III and Malcolm Brogdon.
Holiday’s resume includes two All-Star appearances (2013, 2023) and five All-Defense selections. But it’s the 2021 championship he won with the Milwaukee Bucks that made him especially intriguing to Boston.
The Celtics now have a player who knows what it takes to get to the mountaintop. For all their talent and successes, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown haven’t been able to get over the last hump and secure a banner. Holiday arrives after playing a pivotal role in helping Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks to a banner.
It also doesn’t hurt that Holiday was just jettisoned by the Bucks as the headline piece in Milwaukee’s trade that returned Damian Lillard. Holiday shouldn’t lack for motivation against Milwaukee. And the Celtics and Bucks seem on a collision course for Eastern Conference supremacy.
Much like the Smart deal, the Celtics are setting aside emotion in a unrelenting quest to secure the banner that has evaded them despite some insanely talented rosters over the past half decade. Boston now has four legitimate All-Star level players in Tatum, Brown, Porzingis, and Holiday, all while keeping Derrick White and Al Horford on the roster.
Boston will enter the 2023-24 season with as much top-end talent as any team in the NBA. If Brad Stevens’ roster overhaul works as intended, Boston should very much be in the title mix next June.
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