Celtics acquire Jrue Holiday in blockbuster trade with Blazers

Jrue Holiday was traded for the second time this week – thistime to the Boston Celtics.

After being sent to the Portland Trail Blazers as part of DamianLillard three-way trade, Holiday was flipped to the Celtics onSunday, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Celtics will send Robert Williams, Malcolm Brogdon, a 2024first-rounder and 2029 unprotected first-rounder to the Blazers inexchange for the two-time All-Star.

Multiple contenders expressed interest in Holiday, as he's aterrific two-way player who is also regarded as one of the bestteammates and leaders in the NBA. Earlier this week, Basketball News' Blake Sternlisted the Celtics as a perfect landing spot for Holiday,saying:

By trading away Marcus Smart thissummer, the Celtics lost the key cog to their juggernaut defense.Despite not having a Defensive Player of the Year award, Holidaywould probably serve as an upgrade to Smart on both the offensiveand defensive ends of the floor, helping the Celtics competeagainst the new-look Bucks in the East.

If they wish to enter the Holidaysweepstakes, they would need to trade Malcolm Brogdon($22,500,000), whom they were close to dealing to the Clippers inJuly. Along with Brogdon, they would have to sacrifice either AlHorford ($10,000,000) or Robert Williams III ($11,571,429) to makethe salaries work. They have all of their own draft picks to tradeas well as the Golden State Warriors' pick in 2024, which they gotfrom the Smart trade.

This has been a big week for contenders in the EasternConference, as the Milwaukee Bucks assembled arguably the bestone-two punch in the league in Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpowhile the Celtics put another star-level player alongside JaysonTatum, Jaylen Brown and Co.

Prior to this trade, it was tough to fully evaluate Portland'sLillard trade, since we knew that they planned on flipping Holiday.For this reason, ESPN’s Bobby Marks gradedPortland’s trade return as “incomplete.”

Now, seeing all of the assets that they got back in exchange forLillard, it certainly seems like a win for general manager JoeCronin. And it's possible the Blazers aren't done, as they couldflip Brogdon for additional picks and/or young players.

Are we doing the aggregate trade for DamianLillard now?Deandre AytonRobert WilliamsMalcolm BrogdonToumani Camara2024 GSW 1st2029 BOS 1st2029 MIL 1st‘28 & ‘30 MIL Swap

Last season, Holiday averaged 19.3 points, 7.4 assists, 5.1rebounds, 2.4 threes and 1.2 steals, while shooting 47.9% from thefield, 38.4% from three-point range and 85.9% from the free-throwline.

The two-time All-Star and five-time All-Defensive selectionhelped the Bucks win the 2021 NBA championship. He has won theNBA's Teammate of the Year award three times and was the recipientof the league's Sportsmanship Award in 2021.