Jrue Holiday may be no messiah, but it took all of three days for the Celtics to nab him and thereby resurrect their championship hopes. The Bucks had previously catapulted to the top of oddsmakers’ lists following their acquisition of Damian Lillard, but at the cost of losing him. As soon as he landed with the Blazers, however, lines became busy in a frenzy for his services. No surprise there; after all, he’s one of the top on-ball perimeter defenders in the National Basketball Association, and his relative reliability on the other end of the court decidedly makes him a valuable piece for would-be contenders to the throne.
For the Blazers, dealing Holiday to the Celtics culminates an offseason of second-guessing and doubt. After Lillard made his wishes to be traded to a contender — and particularly the Heat — known, they wasted no time looking for a suitor willing to bite at their asking price. That said, they resolved to temper the inevitability of his departure with patience; at no instance would they allow him to change addresses for pennies to the dollar. And throughout their quest to find a landing spot for him, they never wavered in their stance.
Needless to say, the Heat come out big losers in the Lillard sweepstakes. They should have been at the front of the line considering his desire to don their colors; instead, their refusal to go all in ultimately left them with an empty bag. The Blazers may well have made it harder on them in order to spite their erstwhile foundational piece, but, make no mistake: If they offered enough, they would have claimed him in any case. As things turned out, the Bucks had the assets — bannered by Holiday and a handful of future assets — to entice his transfer.
All things considered, it can be reasonably argued that those involved in the player movements got what they wanted. The Blazers managed to accelerate a pivot to a rebuild with a treasure trove of draft picks. The Bucks propped up title aspirations and bought some peace of mind in regard to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s contract situation. The Celtics swooped in to regain favored — make that heavily favored — status. The Suns rationalized for the better. And, in the end, the fans win.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
