The Boston Celtics’ trade for Anfernee Simons just got made official, but the terms of the deal have changed: Instead of getting back Simons and two second-rounders in exchange for Jrue Holiday, the Portland Trail Blazers only sent back Simons. The trade has become a straight-up, one-for-one player swap with no picks involved.
Now, instead of getting some additional draft capital to play with from the trade, the Celtics only added Simons, who still isn’t safe in Boston. The Celtics still have some work to do in order to get under the second apron, and this deal doesn’t change too much from that perspective, but it does change their projected draft cabinet.
They have two fewer seconds to work with.
Why did Celtics-Blazers Jrue Holiday trade change?
Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report revealed the updated details with a tweet including the Blazers’ latest press release, indicating that the deal has been made official. In the release, there was no mention of second-round picks, indicating that the terms of the trade have been changed since the move was first reported.
The Celtics, who are still pressed up against the second apron, had a lot of work to do at the beginning of the summer. Trading Holiday for Simons shed around $6 million off their books, but the bonus was that they were getting some additional draft capital in the deal in addition to the now-former Blazers guard.
But that is no longer the case. Simons is a solid player who the Celtics could still potentially flip into additional assets, but the updated terms leave some questions to be had regarding what changed from the time the deal was reportedly agreed upon to now, with the deal being made official.
According to Aaron J. Fentress of The Oregonian, 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."
Still, the Celtics accomplished a couple of goals with the trade. They shed some salary, pushing them toward their goal of dipping under the second apron, and they added a solid player who could help them next year (or get them more assets in a separate trade).
Still, the two second-rounders would have been a nice bonus.