Fans are anticipating how Jrue Holiday will improve a squad that is already in contention for the championship after his arrival in Boston.
The Boston Celtics decided to strengthen at the point-guard position by bringing in Jrue Holiday after he was made available for trade by the Portland Trail Blazers who had just acquired him in the Damian Lillard blockbuster deal. Now that the 33-year-old has found a home in Boston, NBA writer Mark Medina believes that his play on-the-court will benefit the two young All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown due to his elite ability to facilitate the ball offensively.
Jrue Holiday trade news from the Boston Celtics
After a disappointing 2023 NBA playoff loss in the Eastern Conference finals at the hands of the eighth-seeded Miami Heat, the Celtics have spent the offseason seeking for ways to bolster their lineup.
At the beginning of the off-season, the 17x NBA Champions made headlines when they traded away Marcus Smart in a three-team deal with the Memphis Grizzlies and Washington Wizards which saw them acquire the services of seven-foot-three power forward, Kristaps Porzingis, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. This move, at the time, was viewed by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps as one that presented a ‘radical shift’ in Boston’s offense due to Porzingis’ season last year, which was arguably one of the best of his career.
However, the Celtics did not stop there.
With Damian Lillard having been dealt to the Milwaukee Bucks unexpectedly, Jrue Holiday was moved to the Portland Trail Blazers and was made available for a trade of his own. Enter the Boston Celtics, who leaped at the chance to sign the two-time All-Star after losing their previous starting point-guard in Smart just a few months earlier. Wojnarowski was the first to break the news that a deal had been struck with the Trail Blazers which saw them send Malcolm Brogdon, whose name had been on the trade block all summer, as well as their starting center, Robert Williams III, in an aggressive pursuit of the two-way guard.
As a result, the move has been seen as one which propels the Boston Celtics to be one of the top-two favorites in the Eastern Conference, alongside the Milwaukee Bucks, despite them losing size and depth in the front-court in the process. Whoever will come out on top, though, remains to be seen.
Holiday will ‘facilitate’ Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum
Due to his reputation for being effective on both sides of the floor, Medina feels Jrue Holiday will have a significant impact on this Celtics team. As a scorer, he can create his own shot, but he can also assist his teammates with his ball movement, which will benefit his team’s other scorers, Brown and Tatum.
