If a recent trade idea comes to fruition, the Boston Celtics could receive the gift of cap relief and young talent based on recent Jrue Holiday trade rumors. The idea comes from a YouTube commenter “TheRobversion1” on a recent video about Celtics trade ideas, and it would see Boston ship out Jrue Holiday in a three-team deal with the LA Clippers and Atlanta Hawks.
In the trade, Boston would get back the No. 13 and No. 30 picks in this year’s draft, as well as two future second-rounders. Meanwhile, the LA Clippers would get Holiday, Jordan Walsh, and Xavier Tillman, while the Atlanta Hawks would receive Norman Powell.
Here’s a full outline of the proposed trade:
Celtics receive: No. 13, No. 30, Two future seconds
Clippers receive: Jrue Holiday, Jordan Walsh, Xavier Tillman
Hawks receive: Norman Powell
Why would the Celtics make this trade?
For the Celtics, according to the commenter, this deal would clear up roughly $37 million in cap space, putting them $17 million below the second apron. This would give them room to sign their rookies and bring back Luke Kornet and Al Horford, too, if the prices are right.
They would get to make four selections in this year’s draft, or maybe even combine a couple of picks to move up and get a guy they like higher up in the class.
Obviously, losing Holiday is brutal, but the Celtics need to clear cap space this summer. Giving up on Walsh this early in his career is also tough, but they could replace him with another young project piece.
Getting that much wiggle room below the cap and a lottery pick in what looks like a very strong class would be an absolute gift for Boston.
Why would the Hawks make this trade?
Maybe the Hawks really like someone at the end of the lottery, but if not, adding a player as good as Powell for this price would be a steal.
Powell is fresh off the best season of his career, and adding him to their lineup would give them a perfect punch of offense outside of Trae Young, which they could use.
The real question is, would they rather double down on youth or continue trying to compete right now?
Why would the Clippers make this trade?
This is perhaps the biggest hurdle in the hypothetical deal. Would the Clippers want to trade a guy who just had the best season of his career?
Well, Brian Robb of MassLive reports that they are interested in adding Holiday this summer, and this would be a relatively simple way of doing so. They would swap out Powell for Holiday while keeping the rest of their rotation intact.
Even if they didn’t want to give up the 30th pick, this would still probably be worth it for the Celtics, and maybe that would make the Clippers more interested.