Boston Celtics make major trade ahead of NBA Draft
Jrue Holiday's acquisition from Portland helped spark the Boston Celtics to their NBA-record 18th championship last season.
Holiday is being sent back to the Trail Blazers by a Boston team that could now be in transition, a person with knowledge of the details said early Tuesday.
Advertisement
ESPN reported that the Celtics would get Anfernee Simons and two second-round picks from the Trail Blazers.
The departure of Holiday, who made his sixth career All-Defensive team selection in his first season in Boston, was confirmed to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal is not yet official.
Holiday was traded by the Milwaukee Bucks to Portland in September 2023 when the Bucks acquired perennial All-Star Damian Lillard. Holiday was then dealt days later to the Celtics, moving right into the starting lineup and eventually earning his second career title last June.
But the Celtics have now lost a second member of that starting lineup for at least part of next season, with All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum having surgery after an Achilles tendon injury in the loss to the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Advertisement
Simons could provide some of the scoring punch the Celtics have lost, having averaged 19.3 points last season after going for a career-best 22.6 per game in 2023-24.
But the Celtics will miss the defense and leadership that Holiday provided. The two-time Olympic gold medalist's scoring was down though, with the 11.1 points he averaged last season his lowest since his rookie season in 2009-10, and more than eight points lower than the 19.3 he put up in 2022-23 with the Bucks, when he was an All-Star.
More than that, the Celtics were likely motivated to trade Holiday because of the $104.4 million owed to him over the remaining three seasons of the contract extension they gave him last year, on top of the huge deals for Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Holiday, who helped the Bucks win the 2021 NBA title, has averaged 15.8 points in a 16-year career that also includes stints with Philadelphia and New Orleans.
Advertisement
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
D'Angelo Russell Dallas bound?
Source: The Nets haven't had a homegrown drafted All-Star PG since Kenny Anderson (@chibbs_1). Kidd, Harris, DWill, DLo, Kyrie, Harden, Ben Simmons were all traded to Brooklyn (except Kyrie who signed). - 11:49 AM Mavericks rumors: How Kyrie Irving helps make Dallas a 'leading suitor' for D'Angelo Russell - 2:53 PM
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Masai Ujiri out as Raptors president in shocking move days before start of NBA free agency: 'I just fell to my knees'
The Toronto Raptors and longtime team president Masai Ujiri have gone their separate ways. Ujiri was reportedly set to enter the upcoming season in the final year of a five-year contract he signed in 2021. The somewhat shocking move, first reported by ESPN's Shams Charania, comes right before the opening of NBA free agency on Monday and a day after the conclusion of the 2025 NBA Draft. Charania took to X — formerly Twitter — to break the news on Friday morning. In a statement, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) president and CEO Keith Pelley praised Ujiri for his leadership and for leading the Raptors to their first and only NBA title in 2019. However, he did not get into specifics as to why the move was made, or why it was made now. "During his 13 seasons with the Raptors, Masai has helped transform the organization on the court and has been an inspirational leader off it," Pelley wrote. "He brought an NBA Championship to Toronto and urged us to believe in this city, and ourselves. We are grateful for all he has done and wish him and his family the very best. As we plan for the franchise's future, and its return to the NBA Playoffs, a search for the successor as president of the Raptors, led by CAA Executive Search, will begin immediately." The team looking to replace Ujiri is a bit of a surprise. Pelley recently fired Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan back in May and indicated that rather than replacing him, Pelley instead would be working closer with Maple Leafs GM Bred Treliving, who will now report to directly to Pelley. It was widely speculated amongst media pundits and insiders that the same structure would be implemented if a similar move was made with the Raptors. Instead, according to Pelley, general manager Bobby Webster — who reportedly just signed a contract extension — will guide the team into free agency and beyond while Pelley and Co. search for Ujiri's replacement. "We are confident that the Raptors organization, under the guidance of Bobby [Webster] and his team, is in a great place," Pelley said. "They have a plan in place for next season and beyond as the team continues its rebuild, and we have confidence in their ability to execute and, ultimately, to excel. We feel the team is in a strong, stable place, and we believe the addition of a new president will continue to move the Raptors forward, towards our next NBA championship." Many who have covered the team and are in the know, however, aren't so sure Pelley and MLSE will be replacing Ujiri anytime soon — if at all. The parent company of the Raptors, Maple Leafs, Toronto Argonauts, Toronto FC and others has brought out the axe in recent months, discarding every major team president and cutting nearly 10 per cent of its workforce since Rogers Communications became MLSE majority owner in a deal approved earlier this month worth $4.7 billion. The firing of Ujiri in particular, especially the strange timing of it, shocked many Raptors fans and media pundits who took to social media to express their disbelief. As the dust settled on the shock factor and the odd timing of it all, many Raptors fans took to social media to give Ujiri his flowers and praise the man who oversaw, by far, the greatest decade-plus in franchise history. The Raptors posted an exceptional 545-419 record under Ujiri since 2013-14, which is the fifth-best in the mark in the NBA over that time, according to Sportsnet, and of course helped secure the team's first and only NBA championship in 2019. The team also hit the 50-wins five times during Ujiri's 12 seasons with the club and qualified for the NBA layoffs in eight of those campaigns. Though success in recent years has been waning, it was an absolutely legendary run for arguably the best executive in the history of Toronto professional sports. Ujiri was hired as Raptors vice-president and general manager back in 2013 to replace the maligned Bryan Colangelo and immediately helped turn the team into a consistent threat in the Eastern Conference with the team qualifying for the postseasons in seven straight seasons between 2013 and 2020. Ujiri was promoted to team president in 2016 and Webster took over the GM role in 2017. Ujiri's most notorious move was the infamous trade in the summer of 2018 that brought superstar Kawhi Leonard to the organization in exchange for franchise legend DeMar DeRozan — essentially paving the way for Toronto's championship run that same season. It's expected Ujiri will be coveted by plenty of NBA organizations and likely won't be out of work for long if he so chooses.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
What do the Boston Celtics trades, draft picks tell us about their future?
The Boston Celtics just had a very busy week as they reshaped the team. What do these trades and draft moves tell us about the future of the ball club? The Celtics kicked things off by dealing away veteran guard Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers for Anfernee Simons and second round draft picks. Soon after that, they traded Latvian big man Kristaps Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deal that brought back vet backup forward Georges Niang and a second rounder as well. Those moves got Boston under the dreaded second apron, allowing the front office to focus on their moves in the 2025 NBA draft. There, Boston took Spanish forward Hugo Gonzalez and No. 28 overall in the first round, then traded back in the second round with No. 32 overall, getting four firsts from the Orlando Magic, and using the two in this year's draft to take Kentucky big Amari Williams and VCU guard Max Shulga. What does all this mean for Boston? The host of the CLNS Media "You Got Boston" podcast, Noa Dalzell, took some time on a recent show to talk it all over. Check it out below! If you enjoy this pod, check out the "How Bout Them Celtics," "First to the Floor," and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network:
