In the sensational Damian Lillard deal on Wednesday, Holiday was sent to Portland.
On Arbella Early Edition, Brian Scalabrine joins Trenni Casey to talk about the Celtics’ standing in the East following the Bucks’ spectacular acquisition of Damian Lillard. Scal offers his opinion on the C’s pursuit of Junior Holiday
The Portland Trail Blazers’ decision about Jrue Holiday is being closely watched as Damian Lillard is expected to sign with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Holiday was acquired by the Trail Blazers as part of the significant three-way trade that brought Lillard to Milwaukee. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports that they intend to start negotiations with contending clubs about trading the five-time All-Defensive selection right away.
Should the Celtics invest much in acquiring Jrue Holiday? | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
Fast becoming a contender to sign Holiday, the Philadelphia 76ers now face competition from the Boston Celtics, another team contending in the Eastern Conference.
According to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe, Boston is anticipated to look into the potential of trading for Holiday.
Marcus Smart, a fellow defensive guard who was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in June as part of the three-way Kristaps Porzingis transaction, would be the ideal replacement for Holiday. While playing for the Bucks last season, the two-time All-Star averaged 19.3 points and 7.4 assists while shooting 47.9 percent from the field through 67 games.
The Celtics are expected to start Derrick White as point guard, with Malcolm Brogdon and Payton Pritchard serving as backups. Boston would probably need to put together a package that included Brogdon, another player (perhaps Robert Williams or Al Horford) to match salary, and draft capital if it wanted to add Holiday to the mix.
The Celtics should be happy with their existing lineup going into the season, but adding Holiday would be the ideal response to the Bucks’ blockbuster. Boston has currently been surpassed by Milwaukee as the overwhelming favourites to win the Eastern Conference in 2024.
