The Boston Celtics wouldn't have won Banner 18 if original Kristaps Porzingis trade went through
The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor dropped a bombshell about the 2023 offseason: the Boston Celtics would've traded Marcus Smart to the Memphis Grizzlies regardless of whether or not the original Kristaps Porzingis trade involving Malcolm Brogdon had gone through.
In that scenario, as O'Connor explains, acquiring Jrue Holiday wouldn't have been on the table.
"Sources from around the league say that once that KP-for-Brogdon deal was complete, Smart still would have been sent to the Grizzlies for Tyus Jones and two firsts," O'Connor wrote. "So even though it initially appeared that the Celtics would have acquired Porzingis without giving up Smart, he was going to be dealt anyway. If those two original deals had happened as Boston planned, there would have been no realistic way for the Celtics to acquire Jrue Holiday once he unexpectedly became available later in the summer. The Celtics would have ended up with KP and Jones instead."
The Boston Celtics wouldn't have won it all had they never traded for Jrue Holiday
Not having Holiday could've been a death knell to the Celtics this past season. While a deep run likely would've still happened, there's no telling if they would've been able to get the job done in the Finals without the league's best all-around defender.
Obviously, the butterfly effect is nearly impossible to track in such a what-if. Where Holiday goes in that alternate would be an important to the story of this past season.
But if Tyus Jones is in the lineup, the Cs are no longer the toughest backcourt to gameplan against. In fact, Jones is likely a sixth man in that case, with Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, and Kristaps Porzingis making up a big starting five. An injury to Porzingis, as the Celtics dealt with all postseason, would've given Boston an undersized lineup.
The massive upside Holiday offered that Jones can't: championship experience. Teams without a former champion on the roster don't win it all.
You can't just find guards anywhere you can slot into Holiday's role. Good thing the Celtics had him exactly where he needed to be in 2023-24.