Former Celtics Champion Is Surprised By 1 Team’s Decision
With the Milwaukee Bucks winning the Damian Lillard sweepstakes, the Boston Celtics wasted no time in responding as they traded for Jrue Holiday.
Holiday was sent to the Portland Trail Blazers in the Lillard blockbuster, but it was immediately reported that they had no intention of keeping him as they knew they could get more assets by trading him.
The Blazers’ hunch was correct as they got an eager Celtics team looking to keep up with the Bucks and shore up a position of need in the backcourt.
Boston dealt away Marcus Smart earlier in the offseason in exchange for Kristaps Porzingis, so they had a hole at the other guard spot opposite Derrick White.
With Holiday and White as their starting guards, the Celtics have a great two-way tandem capable of trading off lead ballhandler duties.
However, Boston did have to sacrifice Robert Williams III in the trade to acquire Holiday which confused former players like Kendrick Perkins via his Twitter account.
The Celtics gave up Robert Willams??? God Bless America.
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) October 1, 2023
Williams has struggled to stay healthy the past few years, but when he is on the court he is a legitimate game-changer on the defensive end.
The young center is athletic and mobile enough to help and recover in ball-screen actions and can deter shots in the paint with his shot-blocking ability.
Al Horford and Porzingis are now tasked with defending the key and that could prove to be detrimental as they’re not quite the same caliber of defender that Williams is.
However, Boston appears comfortable with the current construction of their roster and it’ll be interesting to see if their gamble pays off.
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