UCLA Basketball: Writer Believes NBA Club Now League's Best By Adding Ex-Bruin
Former UCLA Bruins point guard Jrue Holiday was shipped to the Boston Celtics over the weekend in the latest NBA blockbuster move right before the start of the season. After being sent to the Portland Trailblazers from the Milwaukee Bucks as a piece to the Damian Lillard trade, Portland quickly decided that they wanted to flip Holiday for assets that better fit their timeline.
Holiday now lands on one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, making Boston more formidable. His ability to defend at a high level and score the ball should give the Celtics something they have lacked for a while: a true point guard.
One writer believes that adding Holiday now makes the Celtics the best team in the league. Michael Pina of The Ringer sees Holiday as the missing piece that Boston has been looking for.
"It’s a hollow claim in early October, but Boston should now be considered the favorite to win it all."
Holiday was a major piece to the Milwaukee Bucks winning the title in 2021, and now he will look to do the same with Boston. He knows the Bucks inside and out, so he could also give his new team different ways to scheme against them if they meet in the postseason.
“Holiday is an ideal two-way combo guard who can shoot (he made 38.4, 41.1, and 39.2 percent of his 3s the past three seasons), run pick-and-rolls, engineer quality looks for himself and others, torment just about anyone who’s unfortunate enough to draw his defensive assignment, and accentuate Boston’s two All-NBA forwards, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, by assuming numerous tasks on both ends that they’ll no longer have to worry about.”
Boston was already going to be a great team this season, but now they got even better. They have long been searching for a point guard to help lead this offense, and they now have it with Holiday.
The former UCLA product has a great chance to win another ring, and while Bruin fans may be hesitant to root for the Celtics, Holiday will always be a Bruin family member.
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