How the Jrue Holiday trade impacts the Boston Celtics and Portland Trail Blazers

By Shams Charania, Jared Weiss, Jay King and Jason Quick

The Portland Trail Blazers traded point guard Jrue Holiday to the Boston Celtics, the teams announced Sunday. In exchange for Holiday, Portland received guard Malcolm Brogdon, center Rob Williams, Boston’s 2029 unprotected first-round pick and the Golden State Warriors’ 2024 first-round pick.

The deal comes four days after Holiday headed to Portland in a three-team trade that sent Blazers star Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks. The trade involved the Trail Blazers receiving Holiday, Deandre Ayton, Toumani Camara, the Bucks’ 2029 first-round pick and Bucks draft swaps in 2028 and 2030.

Sunday’s trade is a substantial haul for Portland, who has now turned Lillard, Jusuf Nurkić, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson into Ayton, Williams, Brogdon, three first-round picks and two pick swaps. It’s also a dramatic move by Boston to pay a substantial price for an All-Star approaching his mid-30s with a player option after this season, signifying just how hard the Celtics are pushing for a championship.

After trading longtime franchise cornerstone Marcus Smart for Kristaps Porziņģis early in the offseason, president Brad Stevens has moved Williams, a fan favorite, as part of a large package to secure Holiday. But with the Bucks catapulting to title favorites after the Lillard deal, the Celtics had to make another sacrifice to keep up in the Eastern conference.

This also brings resolution to the Brogdon saga, who was aggrieved after a deal to send him to the Los Angeles Clippers fell through during Porziņģis trade talks in June. Brogdon, the 2023 Sixth Man of the Year, preferred a fresh start elsewhere after nearly being traded, according to league sources who were granted anonymity so they could speak freely.

Boston is also finalizing a deal with forward/center Wenyen Gabriel, league sources said Sunday. Gabriel, who averaged 5.5 points and 4.2 rebounds for the Los Angeles Lakers last season, will compete for a reserve big-man spot in Boston.

His strong play for South Sudan in the FIBA World Cup this summer helped secure the team’s first Olympic berth. Gabriel averaged 9.2 points and 6.8 rebounds for South Sudan, and has worked out for the Celtics in Boston in recent weeks.

The Athletic’s instant analysis:

Are Celtics the favorite in the East?

They were one of the favorites already. They remain that with Holiday on the roster. I don’t know if I would personally put them ahead of the Bucks in a ranking of title contenders, but I would put those two teams in their own tier ahead of anyone else in the Eastern Conference.

The Celtics now have two of the NBA’s best defensive guards in Holiday and Derrick White; two of the best wings in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown; and two very good two-way big men in Porziņģis and Al Horford. Though Boston’s depth and size took a hit with this trade, the Celtics should be talented enough at the top of the roster to give any team serious problems. Man, a Boston and Milwaukee playoff series would be fun. — King

Why Boston was open to dealing Williams

The simple answer: The Celtics only had a chance to land Holiday with Williams on the table. He will be a significant loss, though. As good as Holiday is defensively, Boston sacrificed a lot of size and shot blocking in this trade. The team will still be able to use double-big lineups with Porziņģis and Horford, but won’t be able to use those looks as frequently with Williams in Portland.

This trade will likely result in more of a role for Luke Kornet, too. He was solid last season but wouldn’t have seen many minutes if the Celtics had kept Williams. It’s not clear yet who coach Joe Mazzulla will start, but he could go small with White and Holiday in the backcourt or big with Horford and Porziņģis in the frontcourt. — King

GO DEEPER

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Why Blazers immediately traded Holiday

The Blazers are committed to youngsters Scoot Henderson and Anfernee Simons at point guard and want to give them extended minutes to grow and mature into the position, so it didn’t make sense to keep Holiday. The same rationale will likely be used with Brogdon. — Quick

What is the value here for Portland?

Portland addressed two critical areas in their remake of the roster: defense and big-man depth. Williams is a former All-NBA defensive team member who ranked second in the NBA in blocks per game in the 2021-22 season. There are some injury concerns with Williams — he had surgery on his left knee in March and September of 2022 — and he only played 35 games last season.

But he is still young — he turns 26 in two weeks — and he and Ayton, the starting centers, are both players who play above the rim offensively, a stark contrast to former starting center Nurkić. — Quick

Backstory

Holiday, 33, spent the past three seasons in Milwaukee and was a member of the 2021 championship team. Last season, he averaged 19.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 7.4 assists in 67 games.

The Celtics emerged as a possible landing spot for Holiday following the Lillard trade. The blockbuster deal came as a surprise because Lillard requested to be traded on July 1 and made it known the Miami Heat were his preferred destination. However, Miami and Portland reportedly never engaged in substantive negotiations, and as the summer progressed, the Blazers started having serious talks with other teams.

Now that the dust has settled on the stunning trade, the Celtics get Holiday, a two-time All-Star. He spent the first four seasons of his career with the Philadelphia 76ers, who drafted him in the first round in 2009. Holiday then headed to the New Orleans Pelicans for seven seasons following a 2013 trade from Philly.