3:33PM: The Celtics have officially announced the acquisition of Holiday in a press statement.
11:02AM: The Celtics will acquire Jrue Holiday from the Trail Blazers in exchange for Robert Williams, Malcolm Brogdon and draft assets, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The draft picks are Golden State’s first-rounder in 2024 and Boston’s unprotected first-rounder in 2029, sources tell Wojnarowski.
The Celtics were among Holiday’s preferred destinations after he was sent from Milwaukee to Portland in the Damian Lillard deal, Woj adds. He notes that Boston had to make a significant offer to beat out several teams that were pursuing the 33-year-old guard.
Holiday will make roughly $35MM this season and holds a $37.4MM player option for 2024/25. The Celtics are believed to want to work a long-term deal, and he will become eligible for an extension six months after the trade is finalized, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN.
Marks also points out that the trade with Portland wouldn’t be permitted next year because Boston will be above the second apron. He notes that teams in that position have an incentive to maximize their assets before the strictest provisions in the new CBA take effect.
The addition of Holiday provides the Celtics with an emphatic answer to the Bucks’ acquisition of Lillard on Wednesday. Those two trades position Boston and Milwaukee as the clear favorites for the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
Holiday will replace the tough defensive presence the Celtics lost when they traded Marcus Smart to Memphis. He can share ball-handling duties with Derrick White and won’t have to be a full-time point guard like he was with the Bucks.
Boston has a hole to fill with the loss of Williams, but the team holds a $6.2MM trade exception that could it could use in its search for a replacement, points out Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype (Twitter link). If the Celtics can’t find a big man they like, they could use they exception on another player and try to use him in a trade for a center in two months.
After facing a limited market for Lillard throughout the summer, the Trail Blazers have radically reshaped their roster with a pair of deals. In addition to Brogdon and Williams, Portland also acquired Deandre Ayton and Toumani Camara, along with three total first-rounders and a pair of pick swaps with Milwaukee.
Brogdon has two years left on his contract at $22.5MM each season, while Williams will make $11.6MM and $12.4MM over the next two years. Portland plans to hold onto Williams and pair him with Ayton in the frontcourt, Wojnarowski tweets. He adds that teams have expressed interest in Brogdon throughout the summer, and he seems to be a logical trade candidate with the Blazers committed to their young guards.
The Clippers, who nearly traded for Brogdon when the Celtics acquired Kristaps Porzingis, are an obvious choice to pursue him now, tweets Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. Greif also hears that the competition for Holiday came down to L.A. and Boston.