UCLA Men's Basketball: Celtics Weigh In On New Addition Jrue Holiday
New Boston Celtics guard and former one-and-done UCLA Bruins great Jrue Holiday is already turning heads early into his Boston tenure.
GM Brad Stevens dealt for the five-time All-Defensive member in the fallout of the Damian Lillard trade and the UCLA product has impressed several of his new teammates through his first few weeks in the city.
Holiday earned the second All-Star selection of his career last season after serving as Milwaukee's second option behind Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The UCLA guard thrived in the regular season due to a bigger role left by Khris Middleton's nagging injuries throughout 2023.
Mike Budenholzer's roster earned the No. 1 seed but an injury to Antetokounmpo paired with a massive drop off from Holiday sent the team packing for summer early.
Holiday in particular struggled to cover Jimmy Butler as the Heat superstar simply ignored any and all coverage the gritty defender threw at him all series long.
Such a disappointing series prompted the Bucks to move quickly and further pressure from the Greek Freak pushed the front office to make Holiday expendable.
Lillard was pegged to join the Heat and Butler all summer long but a deal never materialized between Portland and Miami.
Holiday instead became the key piece in the Lillard deal and didn't stay in Portland long after the team's clear goals to rebuild with a younger roster became evident.
The Bruins superstar found his new home just a few days later as Portland received Robert Williams III, Malcolm Brogdon and draft compensation from Boston to bring Holiday back to the Eastern Conference.
Though his recent postseason showing, especially on the offensive end, sticks out like a sore thumb, Milwaukee doesn't win a championship without Holiday in 2021.
Boston will hope he replicates some of that magic around their new-look roster of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis for the 2024 season.
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