Jrue Holiday

Celtics Notes: Porzingis, Holiday Trade, Scrubb

October 9th, 2023 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Kristaps Porzingis was the Celtics‘ best player during the first half of his preseason debut with the team, according to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Boston traded for Porzingis this summer to add size to its frontcourt, and Himmelsbach observes that his 7’3″ presence clearly bothered the Sixers in the paint in Sunday’s game.

Porzingis made his first four shots from the field and finished with 17 points. Although he doesn’t present the lob threat that Robert Williams used to, Himmelsbach notes that the Celtics had success on a couple of attempts. Porzingis and Jayson Tatum also displayed some chemistry in their two-man game.

“It’s super easy, honestly,” Porzingis said. “Those guys are so talented. Jayson draws so much attention that it opens things up for me and that’s a perfect scenario for me. So I’m looking forward to more of those two-man, three-man actions where it’s really hard to guard, because we don’t even know what we’re going to do. We’re freestyling it and playing off of each other. So it has to be pretty impossible for the other team to understand what’s going to happen.”

There’s more on the Celtics:

Jrue Holiday came off the bench Sunday, but that’s because he wasn’t able to join the team for practice until Wednesday, writes Brian Robb of MassLive. Holiday admits being “shocked” that the Bucks sent him to Portland in the Damian Lillard deal, but he’s ready to concentrate on basketball after being dealt twice within a week. “I think I’m over it at this point,” Holiday said. “Trying to focus on the season. Trying to get acclimated and honestly go out there and have fun. All the trade stuff I think has passed. Just trying to figure out names and plays and schemes and all of that stuff. It’s been fun though.”
The Clippers were Boston’s main competition for Holiday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski stated during the network’s pre-game show before Sunday’s contest (Twitter link). “They were very close on Jrue Holiday,” Wojnarowski said. “They had a package that Portland really had to labor over before they went to the Celtics’ package.”
Celtics officials are disappointed to see Jay Scrubb‘s progress interrupted by a torn ACL he suffered in Saturday’s practice, per Souichi Terada of MassLive. They signed the 23-year-old guard to a two-way contract this summer. “It’s painful to see him have to go through that because of this mindset that he’s brought from training camp and really in Summer League,” coach Joe Mazzulla said. “As I told him, these are the type of things that guys have to just work through.”

USA Basketball Aggressively Pursuing Jrue Holiday For Olympics

October 8th, 2023 at 6:53pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jrue Holiday has had a whirlwind offseason. The new Celtics point guard now has something else to ponder — a spot on Team USA’s roster for the Olympics.

USA Basketball is aggressively pursuing Holiday to return to Team USA and play in Paris, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports.

Holiday, 33, is still mulling whether to accept the offer. There are 12 coveted spots on Team USA’s Olympic roster.

USA Basketball is trying to bounce back from this summer’s disappointing showing in the FIBA World Cup, in which it failed to win a medal. Many of the country’s star players skipped the World Cup.

USA Basketball officials considered Holiday the second-most-impactful player, after Kevin Durant, on the 2021 gold medal team. Holiday’s on-ball defense, play-making and leadership are among the factors behind USA Basketball’s recruitment, Wojnarowski adds.

The Olympic team is expected to include LeBron James, Durant, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum, if they accept invitations. Some other star players who publicly volunteered recently won’t be extended invitations, according to Wojnarowski. There’s no timetable on a Holiday decision.

Holiday, of course, has other things on his mind as he tries to adapt to another Eastern Conference contender. He was traded twice in recent weeks, first to Portland from Milwaukee in the Damian Lillard blockbuster and then to the Celtics.

Celtics Notes: Holiday, Mazzulla, Gabriel, Redick

October 4th, 2023 at 10:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Celtics owners, front office members and even Hall of Famers were raving about Jrue Holiday‘s performance Wednesday in his first practice with the team, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Co-owner Wyc Grousbeck said the energy reminded him of the first practice session after Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were acquired in 2007. Co-owner Steve Pagliuca said Paul Pierce told him he had never seen anything to match Holiday’s intensity, then Pagliuca offered a few superlatives of his own.

“I don’t think we’ve ever seen Jaylen Brown be stopped going to the hoop with a full head of steam, and he just ran right into Jrue,” Pagliuca said. “And that was it. It was incredible. One of the most incredible things I’ve seen in practice.”

Pagliuca added that the organization has been enamored with Holiday for years and had been hoping he would eventually become available. That opportunity arose after he was sent to Portland last week in the Damian Lillard trade, and the Celtics were determined that they wouldn’t be outbid when the Trail Blazers put him back on the market. Holiday said that as soon as the trade was finalized, Boston coach Joe Mazzulla sent him video clips of the team’s pick-and-roll coverages and offensive sets.

“From the beginning, (Mazzulla’s) told me my role is to do everything,” Holiday said. “Do everything, be all over the floor defensively, be able to control situations offensively, situations to calm us down and get good shots toward the end of games. But I think when it comes down to it, it’s about winning. It’s about keeping this culture of winning and Joe’s a part of that and the way he’s communicated with me has been awesome.”

There’s more from Boston:

Holiday told reporters that the Celtics have already had discussions with him about a contract extension and are hoping to reach an agreement on a long-term deal as soon as he becomes eligible, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.
Holiday credits Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin for helping him get to a place where he wanted to be, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “Portland blessed me,” Holiday said. “Joe Cronin did a great job of communicating with me on how I wanted to proceed. … Working with him was very easy, very seamless, and made all of this possible.”
Wenyen Gabriel, who signed with the Celtics on Tuesday, hopes to provide an answer to the team’s need for frontcourt depth, per Souichi Terada of MassLive. Gabriel isn’t guaranteed a roster spot, but he believes he can provide what the team needs. “I’m not thinking they’re expecting me to do anything new that’s out of the character of what I’ve already done in terms of bringing energy, toughness, getting us extra possessions, being able to switch, being versatile out there, running the floor, being athletic, blocking shots,” Gabriel said. “There’s a lot of different things I can do defensively, being a good help defender. So there’s a lot of things that I already do as a player.”
Former NBA guard JJ Redick revealed on his podcast that the Celtics offered him a job as an assistant coach last September and again when Damon Stoudamire left in March, relays Brian Robb of MassLive.

Bucks Notes: Lillard, Holiday, Middleton, Fifth Starter

October 4th, 2023 at 8:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

In an interview with Marc J. Spears of Andscape, Damian Lillard said it’s “definitely different” to see himself in a Bucks uniform after 11 seasons with the Trail Blazers. The week since the trade was finalized has been a whirlwind for Lillard, who flew into Milwaukee on Saturday, participated in media day on Monday and worked out with his new teammates for the first time on Tuesday.

Lillard, who was given a break from practice on Wednesday, said the idea of being with a new organization really hit him for the first time Saturday night after the introductions, his physical and a video were all complete.

“And then by the time I got back to the spot and I was sitting there by myself,” he said. “I kind of just took it all in and just thought about all the different moving parts of it. And that was when I was just like, ‘Man, this is where I’m supposed to be. This is what it’s supposed to be.’ And in that moment, I just settled in with it.”

Lillard insisted that he doesn’t harbor any bitterness toward anyone from the Blazers, even though his exit was more contentious than he wanted it to be. He confirmed that the opportunity to go to Milwaukee cropped up about two weeks ago and said agent Aaron Goodwin supported it as “the best basketball situation.”

Lillard also expressed excitement about the chance to team up with Giannis Antetokounmpo, a player he has long admired for his competitiveness and work ethic.

“When I hear him speak and how he goes about his business, he speaks my language,” Lillard said. “He goes about it in the way that I’ve always done it. And for me to be able to coexist, I think that’s the kind of person that it would mesh best with.”

There’s more from Milwaukee:

At Monday’s media day, general manager Jon Horst talked about how difficult it was to part with Jrue Holiday, but he believed the team had to react when the chance arose to acquire Lillard, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic. Holiday was an integral part of the 2021 title team and a beloved member of the community. “In the same breath, we’re really excited about this team, the change that’s happening, the way we’re going to play and hopefully the dominance that we’re going to play with,” Horst said. “It’s a great opportunity for this organization, and we’re really excited about it.”
Coach Adrian Griffin gave evasive answers when asked about the status of Khris Middleton, who wasn’t a full participant at today’s practice, Nehm tweets. Griffin wouldn’t say whether it’s a knee issue that is limiting Middleton – who underwent knee surgery in the spring – and didn’t commit to having him ready for the season opener.
The Bucks have several options to fill the starting spot that opened up when Grayson Allen was sent to Phoenix in the Lillard trade, notes Jim Owczarski of The Journal Sentinel. Owczarski examines what Malik Beasley, MarJon Beauchamp and Pat Connaughton would each bring to the starting lineup.

Celtics Notes: Holiday, Tatum, Mykhailiuk, Porzingis

October 3rd, 2023 at 12:49pm CST by Luke Adams

The last-minute trade for Jrue Holiday ahead of training camp upended some of the preparations that Celtics players had made for the coming season, notes Brian Windhorst of ESPN. As Windhorst writes, Derrick White had spent time with assistant coach Sam Cassell in Colorado this summer getting ready to become Boston’s new starting point guard, but Holiday figures to take on that role now.

Meanwhile, Kristaps Porzingis had spent a couple weeks before training camp getting to know Robert Williams and assessing how the two big men might play together. Porzingis will no longer get the opportunity to play with Williams, who was sent to Portland as part of the package for Holiday.

“I already could see how Rob is that charismatic guy for this group,” Porzingis said on Monday. “So it definitely hurts for this organization that he’s not here anymore.”

Still, the Celtics’ players, coaches, and executives alike are excited to get the opportunity to add Holiday, who is one of the league’s mostly highly regarded teammates and defenders.

“There’s a list of guys in the league that you always think you’ve never had a real chance to get that you think are perfect fits,” president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said on Monday, per Windhorst. “And Jrue is one of those guys.”

Here’s more on the Celtics:

Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe has more reactions and quotes from media day following an offseason of change that also saw longtime Celtics like Marcus Smart and Grant Williams head elsewhere. “I played together with Smart for seven-plus years, with Rob for (five-plus), so it’s like you grew up with these guys,” Jaylen Brown said. “For them not to be around is a little bit weird, but everybody has a journey and I know those guys are going to do great.”
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Jayson Tatum explained his decision to forgo surgery on a left wrist issue during the offseason.“I just got a bunch of second, third and fourth opinions (and) surgery wasn’t a common one,” Tatum said, per Windhorst. “I wasn’t all the way certain about it, but did all the right things this summer, took all the right measures, I guess, to make sure I was healthy and prepared to come into the season with no distractions.”
Svi Mykhailiuk could have signed a more lucrative contract to return to Europe as a free agent this summer, but opted to accept a one-year, minimum-salary offer from the Celtics that only includes a $200K partial guarantee. “Just being a part of something special,” he said on Monday in explaining his decision to remain stateside (Twitter link via Jared Weiss of The Athletic). “… I still feel like I’m an NBA player and I belong in the NBA and to keep on my journey.”
Porzingis said on Monday that he’s feeling great and will have no limitations in training camp after dealing with plantar fasciitis this summer, tweets Weiss. “Medical staff did a great job of loading up slowly and now as I’m getting close to training camp, we start tomorrow and I’m totally fine, ready to go,” Porzingis said.
Fellow big man Al Horford said he has been impressed by what he has seen from Porzingis so far in workouts, according to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. “When you really see a guy like that — he’s really 7-3, maybe even a little taller — just the way that he moves, his feel for the game, and some of the things he brings, I’m just really excited,” Horford said of his new teammate.

Central Notes: Mitchell, Stewart, Holiday, Middleton, Hield, Edens, Cunningham

October 2nd, 2023 at 10:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell has notified the front office he will not sign a contract extension before the season opener, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com reports.

“I still have the opportunity to sign an extension next summer,” Mitchell said. “My primary focus is this. Just trying to go out there and trying to be the best team we can be and bring a championship to the city and go from there. We added new additions. We obviously had a season that you could kind of rate went really well until it went really poorly. So, for us, that’s where all of our heads are at. That’s where my head is at.”

Mitchell’s current contract runs through the 2025/26 season, though the last season includes a player option.

We have more from the Central Division:

Pistons general manager Troy Weaver said character played in a role in the front office’s decision to extend Isaiah Stewart this summer, Omari Sankofa of the Detroit Free Press tweets. “You always want to have a player or players on the team who are symbols for what you want to be about, and he’s that on and off the floor. Who he is as a person and what he brings to practice, what he brings as a teammate,” Weaver said. Stewart signed a four-year, $60MM extension despite only appearing in 50 games last season.
While the Bucks are thrilled that Damian Lillard is on their team, they admit it’s strange not to have Jrue Holiday around anymore, according to Ben Steele of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I had just got done with a workout (when he found out),” Khris Middleton said. “I would say just mixed emotions. First, knowing if it was really real or not because it came out of the blue. But then, it sucks to see our guy go. What he did for our organization, what he did for me as a person and my family. It was tough. It was tough to have that conversation and see him go the other way. But to get somebody like Dame in, you got to be excited for a guy like that.”
Buddy Hield came to Pacers camp ready to go, despite stalled extension talks, Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star reports. “It’s basketball. It’s fun. I approach it as every training camp, especially like I did last year, coming focused and ready and just get the work in,” Hield said. “I’m excited to work with these guys. It’s a fun group of guys. There’s a lot of competition and it’s fun. We have a great coaching staff and great team that’s ready to put in the work and teammates that love each other. I’m excited and I can’t wait.”
Bucks co-owner Wes Edens says he’s fine paying the luxury tax for a championship contender, JR Ratcliffe of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays. “We are absolutely in the luxury tax. I think we’re one of the highest luxury-tax payers in the league. For one of the smallest markets in the league, we are one of the biggest payers of the luxury tax,” Edens said. “From an economic standpoint, we can firmly say we are all in. The windows when you have a team the quality we have are relatively short, and we want to do everything we can to not take it for granted.”
Cade Cunningham made a strong impression playing for the U.S. Select Team this summer. The Pistons guard ready to break out his All-Star potential after undergoing shin surgery early last season, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com writes. “What people saw (at USA Basketball camp, where Cunningham starred with the Select Team) this summer was Cade just being healthy,” Weaver said. “He didn’t do anything we didn’t think he couldn’t do. He was just healthy for the first time. He’s able to really explode off that leg and play with his mind free of not worrying about his leg. He’s the lynchpin of what we’re doing and we’re excited that he’s healthy.”

And-Ones: Holiday, N. Young, J. Parker, 2024 Draft, More

October 2nd, 2023 at 2:55pm CST by Luke Adams

The Heat and Clippers are believed to be the other teams that were seriously in the mix for Jrue Holiday before the Trail Blazers accepted the Celtics’ offer for the All-Defensive guard, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said during the latest episode of his Hoop Collective podcast.

“I’m not sure exactly where are the offers were at the end for the Blazers before they decided on the Celtics’ offer, but based on my conversations, my feel was there was at least three teams who were making significant bids.” Windhorst said, according to RealGM. “… The teams I really think were there in the end were the Celtics, Heat and the Clippers.

“The reason I think those three teams were there because I think those were the three teams Jrue Holiday was really focused on at some point being able to sign a longer-term contract (with). And that message kind of went out in recent days. Other teams made offers but it was sort of a three-team, aggressive race at the end. Only the Blazers know exactly what the offers were.”

The Clippers came close to acquiring Malcolm Brogdon back in June, so it will be interesting to see if they make any effort to re-engage the Trail Blazers in talks for Brogdon after missing out on Holiday.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Former NBA guard Nick Young is resuming his playing career overseas, having signed with the Macau Black Bears of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL), according to the team (Instagram link; hat tip to Sportando). A former first-round pick, Young has appeared in 720 regular season NBA games, but has been out of the league since being waived by Denver in 2018.
Speaking to Alex Molina of Eurohoops following his move to FC Barcelona, former No. 2 overall pick Jabari Parker said he believes the NBA is getting “watered down” because so many teams are trying to tank for draft picks each season, and expressed dismay that players like Dwight Howard, DeMarcus Cousins, and John Wall can’t find NBA homes.
ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Insider link) has updated his mock draft for 2024, moving USC guard Isaiah Collier up to No. 2 and Perth Wildcats big man Alexandre Sarr up to No. 4. While Ron Holland of the G League Ignite is still considered the early favorite to be next year’s No. 1 pick, Givony says Sarr has done enough to join the small group of prospects with a legitimate case for the top spot in the 2024 draft.
With a series of holes in its programming schedule this winter due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes, ABC will air NBA games on every Wednesday night in January, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. That slate of games will includes matchups between the Pelicans and Warriors, Mavericks and Lakers, and Suns and Nets, among others.
Kurt Helin of NBC Sports believes that Jason Kidd (Mavericks), Steve Clifford (Hornets), and Billy Donovan (Bulls) are three head coaches who will be on the hot seat this season.

Knicks Notes: Fournier, Grimes, DiVincenzo, Holiday, Robinson

October 2nd, 2023 at 2:09pm CST by Luke Adams

After Evan Fournier expressed his dissatisfaction over the summer about being pulled from the Knicks‘ rotation last season and not being given a chance to play for months, head coach Tom Thibodeau responded to Fournier’s complaints during a media session on Monday, as Stefan Bondy of The New York Post writes.

Thibodeau wasn’t overly sympathetic to Fournier’s gripes, pointing out that the numbers the Knicks posted without the veteran wing in the rotation speak for themselves.

“I didn’t come into (last) season thinking we were going to do the things that we did. We did it because we didn’t have success one way. So, we adjusted,” Thibodeau said. “And then the next group that went in, it’s hard to argue with 37-22 with a plus-five net rating. So, it is what it is. Your job is to stay ready. So whatever you’re doing, go out there and do it. Be part of the team.”

As Bondy writes, the Knicks went 37-45 in 2021/22 with Fournier as a full-time starter and were off to a 6-7 start last season when he was removed from the rotation. While the team’s turnaround certainly can’t be attributed solely to sitting Fournier, New York finished with a 47-35 record.

Fournier’s comments in July indicated that he didn’t expect to still be a Knick by this point, and a source tells Bondy that his representatives tried to work out a trade this summer. However, the club didn’t find a deal it liked. Fournier’s $18.9MM pseudo-expiring contract doesn’t have positive value on its own, but could be a useful salary-matching piece in the right trade.

Here’s more on the Knicks:

The Knicks committed approximately $47MM in guaranteed money to Donte DiVincenzo this offseason, but the plan for now is to have Quentin Grimes remain in the starting lineup at shooting guard, Thibodeau said on Monday, per Bondy. Thibodeau cited the success the club had after Grimes became a starter last season as the reason why he has earned the first shot at the job again this season. “Now of course you haven’t played any games and nothing has unfolded yet,” Thibodeau said. “So you base your decisions on the information you have. And that’s the information that we have and we’re going to go from there.” Jalen Brunson, RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson project to be the other four starters.
Discussing his reasons for signing with the Knicks this offseason, DiVincenzo mentioned reuniting with his former Villanova teammates and getting to be close to family, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv. DiVincenzo also believes the Knicks are in a great position to continue their winning ways: “Ultimately, I like to win basketball games. Looking at…where I was potentially going to land, I felt most comfortable coming here.”
The Knicks had some interest in Jrue Holiday when Portland made him available, but the fact that they weren’t prepared to outbid Boston is indicative of the patient, cautious approach that Leon Rose has taken since assuming control of the club’s front office, Begley writes for SNY.tv. Begley still anticipates that the front office will take advantage of their extra draft assets by trading for an impact player at some point, but New York is clearly waiting for the right opportunity to push its chips into the middle of the table.
As an aside within a larger story about Deandre Ayton and the Trail Blazers, Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports cites sources who say that the asking price for Mitchell Robinson, if the Knicks were to make him available, would be multiple first-round picks. Goodwill was making a point about the value of centers around the league, not suggesting that Robinson is on the trade block.
Steve Popper of Newsday (subscription required) outlines five questions facing the Knicks entering training camp, including whether or not to extend Immanuel Quickley and which players are at risk of having their minutes cut back in a crowded rotation.
Having been let go by ESPN this summer, Mark Jackson may fill in for Clyde Frazier on some MSG Network broadcasts of Knicks games this season, sources tell Andrew Marchand of The New York Post. According to Marchand, MSG Network had interest in bringing in Jackson’s former broadcast partner Jeff Van Gundy for some games as well, but that’s unlikely to happen in 2023/24.

Giannis “Happy” With Lillard Trade, Bucks’ Commitment

October 2nd, 2023 at 1:57pm CST by Rory Maher

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo made it very clear this offseason that he wanted the organization to be as committed to winning as he was in order to sign a long-term deal with Milwaukee.

While Antetokounmpo still has no plans to sign an extension in 2023 (he can make far more money if he waits until next offseason), he says he’s “happy” following the Bucks’ blockbuster trade for All-NBA guard Damian Lillard.

“Big trade having Dame here,” he said, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link). “We added another level to our team…They’ve shown they’re committed to winning a championship. I’m happy.”

“I want to be a Milwaukee Buck for the rest of the my career, as long as we are winning…the commitment from the team for me, is there,” Antetokounmpo added, according to ESPN’s Jamal Collier (Twitter link).

Here some more notes from the Bucks’ Media Day session:

According to Nehm (Twitter link), Antetokounmpo says he and Lillard have a similar mentality. “Having a guy like Dame on the team, it’s unbelievable…Built from the same cloth,” Antetokounmpo said. “Wants to win, he’s extremely hungry.”
Lillard believes he and Antetokounmpo will complement each other on the court as well, tweets Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. “I’m the best version of myself as a player,” Lillard said. “So I think we’ll complement each other really well. I think he’s the kind of guy that he’s not going into it worried about being the man or anything like that either. So I think it’ll work out perfectly.”
Antetokounmpo once again praised former teammate Jrue Holiday, who was sent to Portland in the Lillard deal and then was traded to Boston yesterday. “We’re definitely going to miss him… He’s always going to be a champion forever. He’s always going to be my friend, the best person I’ve ever met,” he said, per Nehm (Twitter link).
Center Brook Lopez talked about free agency this summer, as Nehm of The Athletic relays (Twitter links). The big man eventually returning to the Bucks on a two-year, $48MM deal. Lopez prioritized “finding the place that I had the best chance to win and finding a place where I was valued,” adding that Milwaukee “was the only place I really wanted to be…(re-signing) means everything to me.”
If they’re invited, both Lopez and Khris Middleton would like to play for Team USA in the 2024 Olympics, Nehm tweets.
Speaking of Middleton, he says he’s fully healthy following offseason knee surgery, according to Nehm (Twitter link). The three-time All-Star was limited to 33 regular season games in 2022/23 after undergoing wrist surgery in the 2022 offseason and then being bothered by his right knee. “I feel great,” he said. “Don’t have the pain that I had last year. It was a decision that was made halfway through the season that I was going to have to get it fixed. It wasn’t a hard decision at all.”

Celtics Notes: Pritchard, Kornet, Holiday, Luxury Tax

October 2nd, 2023 at 10:59am CST by Arthur Hill

The Celtics have started extension talks with Payton Pritchard, sources tell Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Although Pritchard’s representatives are talking to the front office about a long-term deal, there’s still “a gap to close” before an agreement can be finalized, Weiss adds.

The 25-year-old guard figures to have a much larger role in a revamped Boston backcourt after offseason trades that sent out Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon and brought in Jrue Holiday. Playing time has been an issue for Pritchard, who expressed a desire to be traded in February because he wasn’t seeing consistent minutes.

That shouldn’t be a problem anymore, as Pritchard’s smooth shooting stroke makes him a welcome backcourt partner for Holiday or Derrick White. Pritchard has connected at 40% from three-point range during his three seasons in Boston.

There’s more on the Celtics:

Coach Joe Mazzulla was preparing to utilize more double-big lineups after Boston traded for Kristaps Porzingis, but those plans have changed with Robert Williams being sent to Portland in the Holiday deal, notes Jay King of The Athletic. Luke Kornet should have a larger role with Williams gone and may see time next to Porzingis, but Mazzulla will likely rely on smaller lineups with the current roster. The Celtics are bringing in Wenyen Gabriel and could look to add more frontcourt help, with King noting that Bismack Biyombo, Dewayne Dedmon and Gorgui Dieng are all free agents, along with Blake Griffin, whom president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said the team would like to bring back if he doesn’t retire.
The Celtics had to consider Holiday’s next contract when deciding to acquire him, per Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype. The 33-year-old guard will become eligible for an extension on February 22, but he’ll only be able to add two more years to his current deal, if he declines his $39.4MM option for 2024/25. If he waits until six months after the trade date, he can add four years and will have the choice of extending at a lower starting salary than his player option under changes made in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Gozlan points out that Holiday can also pick up the option and extend on a “team-friendly” deal similar to what Porzingis did.
Boston’s team salary will reach $222.6MM once the team signs a 14th player, increasing its tax penalty by $14.4MM for this season, Gozlan adds. With Jaylen Brown‘s super-max deal taking effect next year, team payroll is set to rise into the $260MM range. That figure could increase to $350MM to $400MM in 2025/26, Gozlan notes, when Jayson Tatum‘s expected super-max takes effect, if the club extends Holiday and White.
The Celtics have options to improve their roster even after sending two first-round picks to Portland to acquire Holiday, per Brian Robb of MassLive. Boston still has first-rounders to trade in 2024, 2026 and 2031, along with eight second-round picks through 2030. The team also has a $6.2MM TPE from the Grant Williams trade.

Load More Posts