Jrue Holiday and the Celtics just proved that they helped destroy the Bucks

The Boston Celtics took on the Milwaukee Bucks for the second time this season on Sunday night. Boston is 2-0 in those matchups (and 9-2 on the year), and Milwaukee is just 2-8 on the season. They have been one of the worst teams in the NBA this year.

But these two teams are far more connected than their two matchups, and it all goes back to the Jrue Holiday trade. Milwaukee wanted to add some more offensive firepower. They added Damian Lillard in a deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, but the cost was Holiday. Since then, the trade has slowly become a complete disaster.

And the Celtics deserve a ton of the blame.

The Celtics and Jrue Holiday helped destroy the Bucks

The first argument Bucks fans and others will make when provided with the idea that Milwaukee gave Holiday to Boston is, ‘The Bucks didn’t trade Holiday to the Celtics, the Blazers did!’

Living in a world of technicalities, yes. Technically, the Bucks didn’t directly trade Holiday to the Celtics—their biggest conference rival. But the world is far more complex than technicalities.

Any GM around the league at the time could have seen the trade assets the Celtics had available. They could have added up the math of Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams III’s contracts. They could have taken a look at Boston’s draft pick cabinet. It was painfully clear that the Celtics had the means to trade for Holiday, and since they had just traded away Marcus Smart, the deal made a ton of sense.

And all of those obvious signs came together perfectly when Boston landed Holiday in a deal with the Blazers, turning Milwaukee’s biggest nightmare into a reality.

To make matters worse, the Lillard fit in Milwaukee couldn’t have gone much worse. Lillard has put up decent offensive stats, but it hasn’t translated to success for the Bucks, and the Celtics brought that to light even further on Sunday night.

After a monster first half for the Bucks, the Celtics changed their strategy, and it had everything to do with how bad of a fit Lillard is in Milwaukee compared to Holiday.

Every single time the Celtics were on offense, they targeted Lillard. Where Holiday excels, on the defensive end, Lillard is a complete liability left for other teams to expose.

Boston surged back into the game, earning a 113-107 victory over the Giannis Antetokounmpo and Lillard-led Bucks.

Since the Bucks made the trade for Lillard, the Celtics have won a championship, and Milwaukee has gone through multiple coaches and opened their first full season with the All-Star guard as one of the worst teams in basketball.

Milwaukee making the trade started the downward spiral, but Boston getting Holiday was the nail in the coffin. And them using the very guy who the Bucks traded to get Lillard to expose Lillard is proof that they played a huge part in Milwaukee’s destruction.