Woj: Jrue Holiday Traded to Celtics; Blazers Get Brodgon, Robert Williams III, Picks

Jrue Holiday's brief time with the Portland Trail Blazers is over.

Portland reportedly traded the guard to the Boston Celtics on Sunday for a package centered around Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams III, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

That Portland traded Holiday is far from a surprise.

Wojnarowski previously reported the Trail Blazers were expected to "immediately engage contending teams on trade talks" involving Holiday after they acquired him as part of the three-team deal that sent Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks.

The 33-year-old Holiday doesn't match Portland's competitive timeline as a team that is going into something of a rebuild after moving on from Lillard, and trading the veteran allowed it to land more assets that could help in the future.

Portland's loss is Boston's gain, as they landed one of the best defensive guards in the league and someone with championship experience on his resume.

Holiday is a five-time All-Defensive selection and two-time All-Star. He was also integral in helping lead the Bucks to the NBA title during the 2020-21 season and will surely always be remembered fondly by fans of the franchise thanks to those championship efforts.

The UCLA product can do more than play excellent defense, though, as indicated by his averages of 19.3 points, 7.4 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game last season. He also hit 38.4 percent of his three-pointers and took advantage of the spacing created by playing alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Ideally for the Celtics, he can do the same while playing alongside Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

If he does while consistently locking down the opponent's best ball-handler on the defensive side and operating the offense as a facilitating point guard, this will be an important addition in Boston's quest to finally get over the top and win a championship during the Tatum and Brown era.

Holiday may not be Lillard, but he is far more than just a meager consolation prize when it comes to notable offseason trades ahead of the 2023-24 season.