NBA Trades: Boston Celtics acquire Jrue Holiday with shocking package

NBA Trades: The Boston Celtics finalize a deal for Jrue Holiday in a league-shaking package that will send shockwaves across the NBA.

A few days ago, the Milwaukee Bucks made the big move by adding Damian Lillard in a blockbuster deal that not many saw coming. As retaliation, the Boston Celtics struck back at the Bucks’ big move with one of their own. The Celtics acquired Jrue Holiday from the Portland Trail Blazers (who was part of the Lillard deal) in an attempt to keep pace with the Bucks in the Eastern Conference.

Officially, the Celtics acquire Holiday in exchange for Robert Williams, Malcolm Brogdon, a 2024 first-round pick (via Golden State), and a 2029 first-round pick (via Boston). Boston gets their potential Lillard stopper in Holiday and answers the questions they had at the point guard position after trading Marcus Smart earlier this offseason (in the three-team deal for Kristaps Porzingis).

With the start of training camp here, the Celtics enter after making a huge deal to answer many of their personnel concerns.

How will this trade impact the rest of the Eastern Conference?

In a vacuum, this is a huge move that will certainly impact the rest of the East. After the two big moves that have been made over the last week, it’s clear that there are two clear-cut favorites in the East – the Celtics and the Bucks.

With all due respect to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers, and Miami Heat, the East runs through Milwaukee and Boston. You can make the argument that unless one of those other teams makes a huge move, the conference finals will be a battle between Boston and Milwaukee.

Both teams have taken a huge gamble to go all-in on this season and, at least on paper, it has paid off.

It’ll be interesting to see how these two moves impact how the rest of the teams operate heading into the season. From a talent perspective, the Bucks and Celtics are so far ahead of every other team in the East that is should bring about some big questions for each of their futures.

Especially for a veteran-laden team like the Heat.

Miami is in a tough spot after this move by Boston. Think about where the Heat was just a few days ago. They went from being a prospective team to landing Lillard to not even a factor in the Eastern Conference.

But that’s the business of the NBA. It can change in an instant. And right now, barring an injury, the East runs through Milwaukee and Boston.