LeBron James believes the Boston Celtics pulled off a heist when they acquired Jrue Holiday from the Portland Trail Blazers. LeBron was speaking on Jayson Tatum's greatness on his Mind the Game podcast when he hilariously commended the Celtics on landing Holiday for next to nothing.
"They are in a position where they can make another title run," James said. "And like you said, personnel helps, adding (Kristaps) Porzingis and getting Jrue (Holiday) for a bag of Lays potato chips, that helps as well."
(starts at 37:34 mark):
That might be a bit harsh, but the Celtics certainly won that trade by a landslide. They had to give up Robert Williams III, Malcolm Brogdon, and two first-round picks to land Holiday.
Williams played just six games this season before suffering a knee injury, which ruled him out for the rest of the campaign. Brogdon, meanwhile, has been dealing with injury issues of his own and has played just 39 games so far in 2023-24. Both players have a bit of an injury history and I don't think anyone has been surprised by them missing time.
As for the picks, the first is a top-four protected 2024 first-round pick via the Golden State Warriors. In all likelihood, it will fall outside the top 10 this year and isn't that great of an asset.
The second one is Boston's 2029 unprotected first-round pick. If the Celtics somehow turn out to be terrible five years down the road, that might end up being the only asset of any great value that the Trail Blazers got from the trade.
As for Holiday, he has proven to be a fine addition to the Celtics. The 33-year-old is averaging 12.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game this season while also excelling on the defensive end.
Holiday has played his part in the Celtics having the best record in the league at 54-14. They are one of the best defensive teams as well thanks, in large part, to him, and are the favorites to get to the NBA Finals from the Eastern Conference. The Celtics have fallen just short in their quest to win a title in recent years and they are hoping that Holiday and Porzingis can help them finally get over the line.
LeBron James Wonders Why A Former Celtic Isn't Coaching In The NBA
During this episode, James spoke about a former Celtics guard who also excelled on defense, Rajon Rondo. LeBron praised Rondo's basketball IQ and said he found it weird that he wasn't coaching in the NBA.
“Rajon Rondo. He could do things on the go. It’s very weird to me that he’s not coaching at a high level - I think it’s because he doesn’t want to do it," said James. "Who wants to deal with these rich entitled guys all the time?”
It might well be that Rondo does not want to deal with NBA players. He does coach basketball at the AAU level and it would be a lot easier for him to manage children. While he wouldn't be earning as much as an NBA coach does, Rondo did earn about $115 million in salaries during his playing career. He might not think it would be worth it to coach at the NBA level, just to make some more money.
More must-reads: