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With the Boston Celtics looking to potentially acquire Jrue Holiday, they must know that the Portland Trail Blazers will not give someone like him away for nothing. Luckily, Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer reported that the Trail Blazers are particularly interested in one Celtic: Payton Pritchard.
On the September 28 episode of “No Cap Room,” Fischer explained why the Trail Blazers have interest in Pritchard.
“Payton Pritchard is definitely someone on Portland’s radar. He played basketball at Pacific Northwest Oregon, so clearly, that would be a match made in heaven,” Fischer said.
Should the Celtics trade for Holiday, Pritchard may have to be included for salary-matching purposes alone, but the Trail Blazers appear not to see it that way since Pritchard has hometies to Oregon.
The Trail Blazers already have some promising guards with Scoot Henderson and Anfernee Simons, but perhaps they believe Pritchard would fit their timeline well as their third guard off the bench seeing as Pritchard is only 25 years old.
Of course, it would take more than Pritchard to get a deal done, but the Trail Blazers would at least get someone they want if Pritchard is included.
Celtics Considered ‘Frontrunner’ to Get Jrue Holiday: Report
The Celtics have some competition for Jrue Holiday’s service, which includes the Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Clippers. It appears the Celtics have a leg up on some of the other bidders for Holiday, as PHLY SPORTS’ Kyle Neubeck reported on September 29 that the Celtics are among the frontrunner to get Holday.
“Without including (Tyrese) Maxey, the Sixers would be faced with an uphill battle as the Blazers consider offers from a number of teams around the league, with the Celtics and Clippers among the frontrunners for Holiday’s services. One source described trade talks as ‘very competitive’ with a handful of contenders and even fringe playoff teams looking to get in the mix,” Neubeck wrote.
It’s clear that the Celtics are serious in their pursuit of Holiday, though it remains to be seen what exactly what they would have to send back to Portland (besides hypothetically) Pritchard to get him.
Celtics Could Get Holiday Without Affecting Frontcourt
The Athletic’s John Hollinger explained the parameters of a possible Jrue Holiday trade. While a much less complicated deal would involve Malcolm Brogdon along with Al Horford and Robert Williams III, Hollinger floated that the Celtics wouldn’t have to include either of their bigs in a trade.
“The Celtics can get to a salary match on Holiday, but it’s complicated,” Hollinger wrote in a September 28 story. “Malcolm Brogdon would be involved, but he makes $22 million in 2025-26, and that’s $22 million more than the Blazers want to take back. Additionally, the second contract in a Boston deal has to be either Robert Williams or Al Horford, which nukes the Celtics’ frontcourt depth … unless they make the salary match Brogdon, Payton Pritchard, Luke Kornet, Sam Hauser, Jordan Walsh and a signed-and-traded Blake Griffin instead. A six-for-one. Whew.”
Doing that would give the Celtics quite the luxury tax bill. More than that, since Holiday is eligible for an extension in 2024, they may have to pay a lot of money to keep him along with some of their best players, but if the Celtics can trade for him without affecting their frontcourt depth, it’s hard to see why they would pass that up.
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