The Celtics made a huge trade on Sunday, parting with Malcolm Brogdon, Robert Williams, and a pair of first-round picks to land guard Jrue Holiday.
Holiday, briefly a Trail Blazer after the blockbuster deal that sent Damian Lillard to Milwaukee, was a crucial part of the Bucks’ championship in 2021.
Here are a few things to know about the newest Celtic.
He’s one of the league’s best defenders.
Above all else, Holiday is known as one of the NBA’s finest perimeter defenders.
Holiday is a five-time All-Defensive selection, all in the last six years, including three first-team nods. If there were questions about how the Celtics’ perimeter defense would suffer with Marcus Smart being traded to the Grizzlies as part of the Kristaps Porzingis trade, there are few better answers than Holiday.
The 33-year-old has never received Defensive Player of the Year recognition, but is highly regarded by his peers: in an anonymous survey of NBA players conducted by The Athletic last year, Holiday received the most votes as the league’s best defender by a wide margin.
“He could stand out anywhere. You put Jrue in any system, any coach is going to ask him to guard the best player,” said Suns superstar Kevin Durant back in 2020. “He slides his feet so well, he’s got good hands, he’s strong, and he’s got good instincts. … He’s special.”
Holiday gets it done in the biggest moments, too: His his game-sealing steal and alley-oop to Giannis Antetokounmpo in Game 5 of the 2021 Finals is perhaps his career highlight, and the Celtics know all too well how Holiday can flip a game with his defensive heroics, finding out the hard way in the playoffs in 2022.
He shot well from 3-point range in Milwaukee.
Holiday isn’t an elite shooter, but he helped space the floor well for Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee and has steadily improved from deep, hitting 39.5 percent of his 3-pointers in three seasons with the Bucks. He shot a career-high 41.1 percent in 2021-2022, and that mark only dropped to 38.4 percent — still a strong clip — as his 3-point shooting volume made a big jump to 6.1 attempts per game last season.
