Celtics Trade Rumors: Jrue Holiday a Potential Target for BOS After Lillard to Bucks

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The Boston Celtics are in championship-or-bust mode entering the 2023-24 season, and they are reportedly interested in a point guard with an NBA title on his resume.

According to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe, “the Celtics are expected to explore the possibility of trading for Jrue Holiday.”

Himmelsbach’s report comes after ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Portland Trail Blazers “are expected to immediately engage contending teams on trade talks” regarding Holiday after they acquired him as part of a three-team trade that sent Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Point guard is certainly an interesting position for Boston at this point of the offseason.

It initially sent Malcolm Brogdon to the Los Angeles Clippers as part of the deal that brought Kristaps Porziņģis to Boston, but the trade never happened because the Clippers were concerned with Brodgon’s health.

So Boston responded by trading Marcus Smart to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of a three-team deal that landed Porziņģis.

With no more Smart and Brogdon something of a question mark, there is plenty of pressure on Derrick White and perhaps Payton Pritchard to produce in the point guard role. However, trading for Holiday would alleviate that pressure and give the Celtics a veteran who could help replace Smart’s excellent defense.

Holiday is a five-time All-Defensive selection who would bring the same type of defensive intensity that Smart was known for during his time in Boston.

He is also someone who could take advantage of the spacing created by the presence of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown after he hit 38.4 percent of his triples last season for the Bucks.

Holiday is accustomed to playing with bigger stars from his time with Giannis Antetokounmpo and would surely help put Tatum and Brown in positions to score. He would also immediately bolster Boston’s defense and give it someone who could defend players like Lillard in a playoff series.

It is far from surprising that the Celtics are interested.