The Boston Celtics’ trade that sent Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers got adjusted after it was reported, giving the Dallas Mavericks some posthumous frustration after they went through with their Quentin Grimes trade with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Boston was supposed to be getting back two second-round picks in the deal, alongside Anfernee Simons, but when the trade was made official, the second-round picks were taken out. Aaron J. Fentress of The Oregonian reported that there was enough discovered in Holiday's medical to warrant the Blazers removing the seconds from the deal:
"The Portland Trail Blazers trade with the Boston Celtics has been reduced to a straight player swap without the previously reported two second-round picks going to the Celtics, a league source has told The Oregonian/OregonLive. According to the source, a recent review of Holiday’s medicals revealed nothing substantial enough to warrant the trade being negated. However, there was enough there to lead the Blazers to slightly alter the terms of the deal. Holiday, the source said, is considered to be healthy and will be working out this summer in preparation for the start of training camp near the end of September."
What happened to the Mavs?
The Mavericks traded for Caleb Martin at the 2025 NBA trade deadline, shipping Grimes to the Sixers in the deal. However, at the time of the trade, Martin failed his physical due to a hip issue.
Dallas had a chance to cancel the deal, much like the Blazers decided to adjust the Holiday trade, but they didn’t. Instead, Dallas went through with the trade for Martin, and it was a complete and utter disaster.
Most notably, Grimes broke out as a potential star in his game with the 76ers to end the season. Their roster was extremely injury-plagued, giving Grimes a chance to play a ton of minutes.
In his 28 appearances with the Sixers, he played 33.7 minutes per contest. Grimes averaged 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.5 steals while shooting 46.9% from the field and 37.3% from deep on 7.9 three-point attempts per game.
But to make matters worse, Martin didn’t do anything in Dallas. In fact, he only appeared 14 games after the trade, and he was awful in those contests. He averaged 5.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists while shooting 38.9% from the field and 25.0% from three-point range.
Grimes is only 25 years old, and will be for almost all of next season, while Martin is going to be 30 for all of next year.
It was a disastrous trade then, and it’s even worse now. And the Mavs are probably wishing they took a similar route to the one the Blazers did in the Holiday trade.