Joe Mazzulla, Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams IIIJim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
This move obviously costs Boston some depth. That’s unavoidable with a two-for-one trade, but there’s no doubt Holiday raises the Cetlics’ ceiling.
Losing Marcus Smart’s point-of-attack defense was perhaps the only real concern from this Boston offseason, and the team now has a better option on that front in Jrue.
And Holiday doesn’t come with as many offensive question marks as Smart. Yes, he’s had some underwhelming postseason runs on that end, but he’s clearly a more reliable weapon.
Holiday from 2020-21 through 2022-23: 18.5 points, 6.8 assists, 39.5 three-point percentage, 59.0 true shooting percentageSmart from 2020-21 through 2022-23: 12.2 points, 6.0 assists, 33.2 three-point percentage, 53.9 true shooting percentage
Of course, those two weren’t traded for each other, but a comparison between Holiday and Brogdon also favors the Holiday.
If you sort every 2022-23 player with 500-plus minutes by the average of their ranks in five different catch-all metrics (as well as the cumulative versions of each), Holiday finished 22nd, while Brogdon was 69th.
However you look at it, the Boston backcourt got better this summer. And while the loss of Williams hurts the team’s overall depth, the frontcourt is probably better, too.
The Celtics are now entering 2023-24 with a top six that includes Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porziņģis, Holiday, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown and Al Horford. Even after Milwaukee’s Lillard acquisition, that might be enough to consider Boston the favorite in the East.
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