Boston Celtics, not Clippers, winners of All-NBA guard offseason trade race: Analyst

It was the Boston Celtics, and not the Los Angeles Clippers, that won the offseason's "trade derby" for All-NBA guards according to MassLive's Brian Robb -- who lauded the Cs landing five-time All-NBA defender Jrue Holiday and docked the Clippers for landing James Harden instead.

"While Harden may be putting up far flashier offensive numbers with the Clippers than Holiday is with the Celtics, Harden was a constant target for the Celtics’ offense on Saturday afternoon as they put up one of their best offensive performances of the year," Robb prefaced before saying, "Meanwhile, Holiday has been one of the key parts of a top-5 defense while accepting his role happily within the offensive supporting cast.

"With the best record in the NBA through 28 games, the Celtics can feel better than ever about the Holiday gamble. The Clippers have turned things around of late (8-2 in the last 10 games) but Saturday served as a reminder they probably should have pushed harder for the former Bucks guard when they had the chance."

Boston Celtics acquired type of player every championship needs

When the Celtics landed Holiday, the most prominent fact pointed out about the acquisition was that it gave Boston something nearly every championship throughout the league's history had: a player with hardware on his finger already.

While the Cs are loaded with battle-tested stars like Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, who've been to four conference finals and an NBA Finals, Holiday was the much-needed championship glue.

The on-court benefits of Holiday have been evident, even with the 33-year-old scoring near-career lows, and the Celtics have the answer on the perimeter to any problem any opposing backcourt may cause. Including Harden and the other All-NBA point guard trade splash, Damian Lillard.

Robb is right: Boston won the offseason trade derby by a wide margin.