Revisiting The Celtics Trade For Jrue Holiday
Jrue Holiday was the finishing piece to the Celtics. Boston finally lifted the Larry O’Brien Trophy again and the former UCLA product had a lot to do with that. Let’s take a walk down memory lane and revisit the trade that brought him to the C’s.
You can’t just talk about the trade that brought Holiday to Boston. This deal has so many layers to it. Brad Stevens certainly deserves credit for putting this team together. It also needs to be mentioned just how lucky Stevens got with this whole thing. Some of this stuff was out of Stevens’ hands and he found the lucky pot of gold.
It all really goes back to the Kristaps Porzingis trade. What would an alternate universe look like if the first Porzingis trade that included Malcolm Brogdon? The second version that included Marcus Smart also gave Boston two first-round picks. One of which was used directly for Holiday. Would Boston have even made the move for Holiday if Brogdon was shipped out instead of Smart? Did a failed Brogdon physical really lead to a championship? Part of me still believes this team would have won if Smart was on the team but we’ll truly never know. While Smart is being unfairly bashed during this run, it’s pretty obvious Holiday is the better player.
With Smart gone, the Celtics had a black hole at the guard spot. Brogdon is a bum and was clearly unhappy with his situation. It was also looking impossible for Boston to replace the defensive impact that Smart made on a nightly basis. How were they going to replace him? The truth of the matter is, Boston owes Milwaukee an edible arrangement because they gifted wrapped a perfect replacement that also happened to be better. When Brad Stevens said Holiday was a perfect fit for Boston, we all knew why and he was 100% right.
I’m not even going to bring up the numbers. They don’t matter. This guy just does everything.
The team.
The team.
The team.
Jrue is an absolute dawg and nobody has sacrificed for this team more. He plays his tail off defensively, rebounds his position well, and just makes winning basketball plays all the time.
Thank you for everything, Jrue. This team added the championship DNA it needed because of you. The consummate professional and a superstar in everything he does. He’s just built different and doesn’t care about not getting the credit he deserves. A grown-up in every sense of the word. Thank you for Banner 18.
Subscribe to Vendetta’s Twitch
Subscribe to Vendetta’s YouTube
Check out the Vendetta Shop
Click here for more NBA content
