Next Step For Celtics Is Clear After Jrue Holiday’s Boston Arrival

BRIGHTON, Mass. — The Celtics made their second blockbuster move just days before the start of training camp, landing Jrue Holiday from the Trail Blazers.

Once again, the Celtics elected to pull the right trigger, parting ways with Malcolm Brogdon who presumably grew irritated with the organization, and Robert Williams III who never established himself beyond a role player. Then there were the two future first-round draft picks that added to Boston’s trading chips pile, best reserved for a trade acquisition as such anyway.

Milwaukee’s blockbuster trade for Damian Lillard inevitably positioned the Bucks to create the perfect storm for the Celtics to swoop in and bolster their roster simultaneously. That’s the first step in winning this trade. The second, it’s pretty simple; retain Holiday on a long-term contract extension to assure commitment while Boston’s championship window remains open.

And from the sounds of it, Holiday is a guard the C’s envision being a part of that title chase for years to come.

“We wanted him here for a long time and when the time comes and we’re allowed to talk about those types of things,” Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said Wednesday during Holiday’s introductory press conference. “This is something that we hope can be a longtime relationship, obviously beyond these years of the contract. We still have a few months to go before we can get too deep into that stuff.”

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Holiday’s current contract stipulations include a player option for 2024 before the 33-year-old becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2025. But like Boston did with Kristaps Porzingis, it’d be wise for the Celtics to get ahead of Holiday’s free agency early and settle on a long-term extension.

Boston did literally nothing and still ended up with a golden ticket opportunity to land one of the league’s best defensive guards. That doesn’t come across every organization’s doorstep every day and when it does, it shouldn’t be taken for granted.

The Celtics parted ways with Marcus Smart and rather than settling for a downgrade hopeful to fill the void, they ended up with a scoring upgrade with championship-winning experience.

“Once I ended up getting traded here, that’s what I was committed to,” Holiday explained Wednesday. “Again, a team who’s been close to winning championships, who has those banners up there and has one covered because of how rich this organization is and winning is. … I thought I had a chance of that in Milwaukee, it happened. Now I have the same chance and winning is the most important thing to me.”

Holiday isn’t only spoken highly of by his peers for his personal work on the floor, but how he conducts himself throughout a season, winning three NBA Teammate of the Year awards — the cherry on top to an already suitable Celtics addition.

“The idea of competitive character matters so much,” Stevens said of Holiday. “Not only to as the individual, but how it impacts the team. And I think he brings it as well as anybody around. I just think contagious.”