Boston Celtics: 3 trade packages for Cs to land Jrue Holiday

Recent rumblings suggest that the Boston Celtics could be in play to trade for New Orleans Pelicans star Jrue Holiday this offseason.

It’s no secret that we believe the Boston Celtics should be interested in making big moves this offseason. Not core-shattering moves necessarily, but ones that would help better position themselves to attain banner number 18 before the likes of the Los Angeles Lakers.

So far this offseason, the Cs have found themselves linked to numerous players across the NBA landscape, both within the free agency and trade verticals.

The most recent name to be linked to the franchise is New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday who, according to multiple sources, is currently being shopped by the franchise.

The former All-Star is coming off one of his best all-around seasons in the NBA, as he posted impressive averages of 19.1 points, 6.7 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game on 46 percent shooting from the floor and 35 percent shooting from deep while earning his second-consecutive NBA All-Defensive team selection in the process.

As recent reports would suggest, Boston’s front office is one of the top teams that are actively vying for the shooting guard’s services. While my co-expert Andrew Hughes recently came to the conclusion that it would be best for Danny Ainge to pass on trying to acquire the 11th-year veteran, at the end of the day we are by no means the decision-makers for this franchise.

Should Ainge ultimately feel it to be worth trading for Holiday, he would be able to throw quite a few attractive packages NOLA’s way.

Read on to see 3 realistic trades the Boston Celtics could make this offseason to land the talented combo guard:

Trade for Boston Celtics to land Jrue Holiday No. 1) The simple exchange

The first trade idea we have keeps things relatively simple as far as trades typically go. Now, all of this is contingent on if Gordon Hayward opts-in to the final year of his $127 million dollar deal — something he’s been rumored to be questioning.

For hypothetical’s sake, let’s just say the forward ultimately picks up his fourth year, thus making this trade scenario realistic and worth keeping in mind.

Despite his ups and downs during his first few years with the Boston Celtics, the small forward was finally able to come into a season fully healthy and, in turn, produced at impressive rates.

Through 52 games played, Hayward posted averages of 17.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.1 assists on 50 percent shooting from the field and 38 percent shooting from downtown. Slotting him into a lineup in New Orleans with the pass first Lonzo Ball could benefit him tremendously in the scoring department, especially on catch-and-shoot 3’s where he converted on a sound 42.5 percent of his attempts in 2019-20.

Not only would he be another stellar scorer to help NOLA’s core generate points, but he’d also prove to be a fantastic addition in regard to bettering the team’s ball-flow, as Hayward was perhaps Boston’s best facilitator last season.

This could be seen as an extra benefit for the Pelicans, as it would provide the team’s stars of Brandon Ingram — assuming he re-signs — and Zion Williamson another player who can feed them the rock for easy buckets.

The beauty of this trade in our minds, however, is that if things don’t work out with Gordon Hayward, his deal expires at the end of the year, thus making it a relatively low-risk move long-term while also providing them 3 first-round picks in this year’s draft.