Celtics have a 2K transaction?

Trading content

Celtics get Anthony Simmons, 2 second rounds (the second round of the Knicks in 2030 and the second round of the Trail Blazers in 2031.)

The Trail Blazers get Ju Holiday

This transaction is somewhat like what year it means tonight. Back last summer, Brother Zhu's identity as a top defender in the championship team will most likely be a rush to grab the market. I'm afraid that the price of the Trail Blazers will not be able to get it. A year later, Brother Zhu's condition declined and he signed another big contract, with a 180° reversal, becoming a contract that the industry expects to be difficult to handle. As a result, the Celtics used him to get Simmons Jr. and grabbed two second rounds. What else can I say? If each team has a hidden attribute, the Lakers are called robbery, the Warriors are called sky-falling, the Rockets are called actuarial, and the Celtics should be called 2K. You don’t dare to think, they really dare to do it.

Why did the Trail Blazers make this deal?

The weirdest thing about this deal is that Holiday is a contract with three years left (the third year player option), while Simmons Jr. is an expiration contract. There is no logic for the Trail Blazers to handle Simmons Jr., but the Celtics handled Holiday's long contract through this deal. Simmons Jr.'s salary next season is 4.7 million lower than Holiday's, and the Celtics used this deal to lower their total salary and cut their luxury tax expenses. In the common issue of optimizing salary structure through transactions, the Celtics took a big advantage. If the Trail Blazers want to give Sharp and Anderson the ball, there is no need to deal with an expiring contract by taking over a long-term high-paying veteran defender. All this means that the Trail Blazers may only be heading for Holiday in this deal.

2 years ago, the Trail Blazers got Holiday through Lillard's trade. They then traded Holiday to the Celtics and got a good bargaining return at that time. Holiday helped the Celtics win the championship. Now the Celtics adjust their direction to return the goods. They found the Trail Blazers and found that they actually returned the goods. They even offered "old-for-new" services, rebates and vouchers. "Good guy, I'm just calling you a good guy." After hearing about this, a certain Phoenix office slapped his thigh. "This is OK? This is OK?" So I quickly called Washington. No one answered the answer opposite.

Holiday still hopes to recover. As a veteran with double championship experience, it is exciting to help him provide to a young team. Holiday's technical characteristics are very suitable for the Trail Blazers, first of all, his point guard value. Until then, you can't trust any of the Trail Blazers' guards, which team has the second highest turnover rate in the league. Secondly, he is a defensive player who can raise his shortcomings and make this pioneers whose defensive efficiency quietly climb to the middle of the league go further. For these two reasons, the Trail Blazers have the significance of buying Holiday. But they also have to bet on these two things:

Holiday's decline is not a collapse level, and his decline is more about his level as a champion guard. But Holiday is a 35-year-old veteran and he still has room for continued decline in the next three years of his contract period. As a young team that has not yet risen, it has already held a long-term contract for veterans, which is not the same as the Rockets introducing Durant from a complete playoff lineup. It's even more interesting to think that the Trail Blazers have Grant who is equal to the same contract as Holiday;

Although I don't think Sharp and Henderson are already sure that the Trail Blazers' future double-shooters will be sure that you have two high-couple defenders in your hands, if you have two high-level defenders in your hands, putting a player in the same position with a high salary, high qualifications and high ability will have to squeeze out the space for growth. If it is just a bench to pass on and lead, the cost will be a bit high. Perhaps there is also a statement about the future of the Trail Blazers, the two young defenders?

I can only think that the pioneers feel that they are about to rise, so they need such a person. As for whether the core team will be clear after the rise and what the future salary plan will look like, they may have thought about it, but at least I haven't figured it out yet.

This transaction is simpler to the Celtics.

Temporarily lost Tatum, and the Celtics' championship plan was shelved at least for a short period of time, so there is no need to continue to maintain the championship lineup with high salaries. Cut expenses, accumulate chips, rejuvenate the lineup, and wait for Tatum to return before deciding on the direction. This is the most reasonable choice. This deal solved or alleviated four problems at once:

The first, the pressure on luxury taxes was reduced in the 25-26 season. At the same time, the payroll for the 26-27 season was greatly reduced; the second one, exchanged him for valuable chips before Holiday broke his hands; the third one, which is also considered a younger lineup. Although Simmons Jr. may not be in the long-term plan, with Stevens's shrewdness, he might be able to renovate and make a difference; the fourth one, they may even alleviate Tatum's lack of development skills during his recovery period. As long as the young coach did not immediately change his hand and exchanged Simmons for other bargaining chips, this person has something to do as a ball holder. Suppose the Celtics want to play seriously and try to make it to the playoffs, Simmons Jr. can provide great firepower. Of course, if the silhouette is turned on, Simmons is also a good general.

This is another super awesome move since Stevens took office. He created this champion Celtics. The team is now in huge trouble due to an accidental injury. The situation was originally a headache, but judging from this deal, this situation may not be a big deal for Stevens.

Rating: Celtic A+, Trail Blazers D