The Portland Trail Blazers made a bold move last summer, one for which they were roundly panned. In trading for Jrue Holiday, however, the Blazers have set the tone for their entire team -- and it's a move that looks even better as time has gone on.
The Blazers were supposed to tank again this past season, staying young and taking another pass at a draft lottery that had not been kind to them during their rebuild. That would have proven to be a mistake, as a third of the league is outright tanking and the competition to land the best odds would have been impossible to navigate.
It also would have been a mistake given the explosion of Deni Avdija, who leveled up from a tough defender with intriguing offensive skills to an All-Star whose playmaking and scoring as a point forward could be featured on a good team with the right pieces beside him. They were never tanking with Avdija playing this well, either.
Jrue Holiday is helping in a major way
The Blazers now look even smarter for not trying to waste another season, and they are currently in eighth-place in the Western Conference standings and positioned to make a run into the playoffs. And Jrue Holiday has been a critical part of their season thus far.
Holiday is averaging a tide 16.3 points, 6.1 assists and 4.5 rebounds for game as a central part of the Trail Blazers' offense, moving from the smaller role he played on the Boston Celtics into a more featured one on a Portland team in need of it. He is shooting 38.9 percent from deep, making him a real threat from outside.
Holiday's contributions don't stop there. His defense remains top notch, if not quite at the all-world level it was the past few seasons; taking on more of an offensive load requires a sacrifice somewhere. He is also a veteran player who has won multiple titles and conducts himself with maturity and integrity, and his impact on Scoot Henderson is being talked about by everyone in and around the Blazers organization.
Many questioned Portland trading for Holiday without getting back draft picks, given his lofty contracts numbers over the next few years. Perhaps Holiday will drop off in the years to come, but thus far, he has been worth his contract. And while he has not been completely healthy, he has played in 49 games and is healthy down the stretch.
Anfernee Simons has been underwhelming
The Blazers had to move on from combo guard Anfernee Simons in the Holiday trade. It was a move that the Boston Celtics welcomed because it reduced their team salary for both this year and beyond, with Simons in the final year of his contract.
Simons played well in Boston, largely as a sixth man coming off the bench and scoring in bunches. The Celtics didn't see him as a key part of their playoff rotation, however, and were comfortable moving on from him at the trade deadline, exchanging him for the less expensive Nikola Vucevic to further decrease their salary sheet.
Vucevic has been bad in Boston, a defensive weak spot in a rotation that largely lacks any others. The Celtics accomplished their goal of slashing payroll and remain one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference, but in terms of players moved around, it's hard to say they won the deal.
Simons, likewise, has struggled in his new home in Chicago. He is shooting just 32 percent from deep and averaging 15.2 points per game only through 13.3 shots. Injuries have also reared their head, and his status heading into free agency this summer is much more uncertain.
The Trail Blazers gave up zero draft picks to land a high-level two-way player who can both provide top-notch play this season and teach up the young guards on this roster to be equipped for the future.
As Simons struggles in his new home, and the Celtics have nothing but money to show for the trade, it is clear who won the trade. The Portland Trail Blazers nailed this one.