Jrue Holiday is a “perfect fit” for the Celtics, team president says

Last season, the Celtics’ surprise before the start of training camp was a dramatic coaching change. This year’s stunner is a positive as Stevens finalized the deal with the Portland Trail Blazers for the holidays less than 24 hours before media day.

“There’s a list of players in the league that you always think haven’t had a real chance to get what you think is a perfect fit,” Stevens said at the team’s media day. “And Gru is one of those guys.”

Stevens said over the summer that he and his staff were trying to envision how a Damian Lillard trade to the Blazers could play out and if there was an opportunity to participate in a secondary trade. When Holiday, one of last season’s stars and a five-time All-Defense selection, a mini-bidding war ensued between the contenders, and the Celtics found themselves in the middle of it.

That led them to pay a premium price that included key players Robert Williams III and Malcolm Brogdon as well as two first-round picks. The trade also added $11 million to the Celtics’ payroll including additional luxury taxes.

“You have to pay a good price for things, right? That’s the way it goes. We’re trying to win a championship,” Stevens said. “This reflects our ownership’s willingness to spend regardless of our eagerness to be the best team possible.”

The deal would likely give the Celtics one of the strongest starting lineups in the league with three stars from last season including Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, as well as big man Kristaps Porzingis, the team’s other major offseason acquisition.

But that meant some shifts in the way the team was expected to play, which was with a larger lineup after replacing visiting guard Marcus Smart with Porzingis and naming Derrick White as the starting point guard, which is where Holiday will get a lot of his minutes. .

How that could happen was something players and coaches were only beginning to formulate during photo ops Monday.

“I want to be as open as possible, knowing that we have a lot of flexibility in the backcourt and frontcourt,” coach Joe Mazzola said, noting that he has not made any decisions on what his lineup will look like on opening night. In New York in four weeks.

“The theme of the season for us is do we have the ability to bring out the best in each other to play team basketball and at the same time understand that we’re all going to have to sacrifice? We’re all going to have to give up little pieces of ourselves to get to where we want to get to.”

The entire team had gathered over the past two weeks in Boston for practice, including Porzingis, who was cleared after missing the FIBA ​​World Cup with his native Latvia due to plantar fasciitis. On Sunday morning the team got the trade news.

“Smart, no matter what jersey he wears, he’s still my brother and I feel the same way about Rob,” said Brown, who signed a $304 million contract extension in July. “I spent a lot of time with the guys.”

“It’s like going to high school and middle school with somebody. I played with Smart for over seven years, with Rob over six years. I kind of grew up with those guys. So not having them around is a little bit “The thing is. Strange.”

The Celtics have made aggressive moves to try to get over the hump. They have reached the conference finals five times in seven years but have never captured the coveted 18th championship and have only reached the NBA Finals once, losing to the Golden State Warriors in 2022. Last season they lost in Game 7 at home in the NBA Finals. Conference Finals to the Miami Heat and they ramped up their roster in an attempt to get another chance.

“We’re going to put our (personal) issues aside, that’s not what we’re here for and we’ll figure it out,” said Porzingis, who signed a two-year, $60 million contract extension. Arrived from Washington. “There’s a lot of talent, a lot of players who can put up crazy numbers.”

On the first day of camp, this selfless attitude ran through the team. That included White, who is eligible for a contract extension this fall, but whose role could change now that Holiday has joined the team. Holiday is in the final season of his contract and with the price the Celtics paid, there is an expectation they will seek to sign him to an extension as well when he becomes eligible next spring.

“I’ve just heard great things about him,” White said. “Adding a guy like that, you can’t be upset with him.” “Whatever happens with the extension talk, whatever. But I’m really just focused on the season and I don’t think it can change too much from what I’ve been thinking about this whole season and the way I’ve played and ‘prepared’, so him adding him would be great for us.”