The Celtics and Path Blazers have agreed to a commerce that may ship Jrue Holiday to Portland in trade for Anfernee Simons and a pair of second-round picks, reviews Shams Charania of ESPN (X link).
The second-rounders going to Boston would be the Knicks’ 2030 decide and the Path Blazers’ personal 2031 choice, based on Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link).
The transfer comes lower than two years after the groups obtained collectively to make a trade, sending Vacation from Portland to Boston in October 2023. In that deal, the Blazers, who had simply acquired Vacation from the Bucks within the Damian Lillard blockbuster, acquired Malcolm Brogdon, Robert Williams, and two future first-round picks from the Celtics.
Vacation helped the Celtics win a championship in 2024, however had seen his position dialed again considerably since arriving in Boston, having taken a again seat offensively to increased scorers like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis, and even Sixth Man of the Yr Payton Pritchard.
In 2024/25, Vacation averaged simply 11.1 factors per recreation, his lowest mark since his rookie yr in 2009/10. He additionally contributed 4.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.1 steals in 30.6 minutes per night time, together with a .443/.353/.909 capturing line in 62 outings (all begins).
Given Vacation’s comparatively modest position in Boston and a contract that may pay him $32.4M subsequent season and $104.4M in complete over the following three years, he was thought of a robust commerce candidate this summer time for a Celtics crew seeking to cut back its payroll.
Boston will do exactly that on this deal, as Simons is on monitor to earn roughly $27.7M in 2025/26, which is the ultimate yr of his contract. Though that’s solely about $4.7MM lower than what Vacation will make, the swap will generate a projected $40MM+ in tax financial savings for the Celtics, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Boston is deep in luxury-tax territory and can face extra punitive “repeater” taxpayer penalties subsequent season.
The Celtics are nonetheless projected to be about $18M above the second tax apron for 2025-26, per Marks, however they proceed to interact in commerce discussions involving different gamers on their roster, sources inform Charania (X link), so extra cost-cutting strikes are possible coming.
Apart from saving some cash within the commerce, Boston will add a gifted 26-year-old guard in Simons, who has averaged 19.9 factors and 4.5 assists per recreation with a .436/.381/.901 capturing line over the previous 4 seasons in Portland since taking over a featured position with the membership. Simons ought to assist make up among the offense the Celtics misplaced when Tatum went down this spring with an Achilles tear that’s anticipated to sideline him for many or all of subsequent season. Simons can even be eligible to signal a contract extension with the C’s starting in July.
The Blazers, in the meantime, will herald a defensive-minded veteran who will assist shore up the crew’s perimeter protection whereas serving as a veteran mentor for Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe, two younger guards nonetheless on their rookie scale contracts. Vacation turned 35 earlier this month, and the again finish of his contract might turn into cumbersome, however Portland presumably believes he will help the crew take one other step ahead after it improved from 21 wins in 2023-24 to 36 victories this previous season.
Assuming the commerce doesn’t increase to incorporate extra items, the Blazers will turn into hard-capped on the first tax apron for the 2025/26 league yr on account of taking again extra wage than they ship out on this deal. The crew tasks to be roughly $6.6M beneath the posh tax line and $14.7M beneath the primary apron as soon as the transfer is finalized, notes Keith Smith of Spotrac (X link).
The Kings, Raptors, and Mavericks have been among the many different groups who had curiosity in Vacation, reports Jared Weiss of The Athletic. They’ll should look elsewhere for level guard assist now, because the Blazers intend to hold onto Vacation within the hopes of constructing a push for a playoff spot subsequent season, per Fischer (X link).
