Jrue Holiday is headed back to Portland. Will he stay there longer this time?
The Boston Celtics have agreed to trade Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers for Anfernee Simons and two second-round picks, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN and confirmed by other reports.
It was no secret that the Celtics were looking to trade Holiday and the three years, $104.4 million remaining on his contract to save money. Simons, a 26-year-old two guard, has one more season on his contract at $27.7 million. Boston would save $40 million in salary and luxury tax payments, plus be about $18 million under the second tax apron, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. This is a good trade for Boston in that they didn’t give up high-quality trade assets to save money.
Holiday made a stopover in Portland before. He was traded there after helping Milwaukee win a title, a key part of the Bucks’ acquisition of Damian Lillard. The Trail Blazers didn’t keep him, they re-routed Holiday to Boston, where he was a key part of the Celtics winning a title last year.
Holiday would significantly upgrade Portland’s defense, and he would be a good mentor for Scoot Henderson. As it is now, this is a Portland roster with a lot of good, interesting rotation players — Holiday, Deni Avdija, Shaedon Sharpe, Donovan Clingan, Henderson, Deandre Ayton, Toumani Camara, and Jerami Grant.
However, it’s very possible the Trail Blazers will re-route Holiday again. Holiday, 35, is an elite defensive guard who averaged 11.1 points a game while shooting 35.3% from beyond the arc last season. He has been a favorite in the locker room wherever he has landed.
The Celtics pick up a scorer. Simons averaged 19.3 points and 4.8 assists a game last season, while shooting 36.3% from 3. He is a bucket getter, but one who does it at a pretty average efficiency. Still, with Jayson Tatum out much, if not all, of next year, the Celtics will need some guys who can just score.
The Celtics are not done looking to make cost-saving trades, according to reports.
