With the Paul George and Kawhi Leonard era having failed to achieve the competitive window they were expecting, the Los Angeles Clippers are attempting to keep the ball in the air.
Still with Leonard on the team, albeit for only half a season at a time, the Clippers acquired James Harden early in the 2023-24 season, and have since developed two stars from within in near-All-Star Norman Powell and near-Defensive First Team member Ivica Zubac. Despite losing George in free agency to the Philadelphia 76ers, and still burdened with the anguish of knowing they gave the Oklahoma City Thunder the current NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to get him, the Clippers have not resigned themselves to a rebuild, and are instead going for a reload.
With this in mind, the Clippers keep seeing their names attached to the biggest names on the market. If Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks does indeed become available, the Clippers are said to be on his shortlist; if the Phoenix Suns change their mind once again and do decide to deal Kevin Durant after all, the Clippers have had interest in him dating all the way back to 2018.
However, the latest story on the Clippers involves them going in a different direction, and targeting a current Boston Celtic with ties to the city.
Clippers Want To Keep Title Window Open
Brian Robb of Masslive.com reports that the Clippers intend to target starting Celtics point guard Jrue Holiday in trade this summer. The Clippers will be following up on interest they first expressed back in 2023, when Holiday was first traded to the Celtics by the Portland Trail Blazers, a mere four days after the Blazers acquired him from the Milwaukee Bucks as a component of the Damian Lillard trade.
Holiday is a native of Los Angeles, and spent his short college career with UCLA before being drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers. He has yet to play for any Californian team in his 16-year NBA career, one that also saw him spend seven years with the New Orleans Pelicans, with whom he made the first of his two career All-Star appearances back in 2013.
Having signed an extension with the Celtics last April, Holiday is under contract until at least 2027 (and potentially through to the end of the 2027-28 season if he exercises a player option in the final year) to a deal that will pay him an average of $34,800,000 annually. At the time, it represented a fair price for a high-level two-way guard who has started on two championship-winning teams.
The Celtics, however, are not in the same position today as they were then.
Celtics Said To Be Making Changes
Even though the Celtics won the NBA Championship just last season, rumblings about changing up their roster have been heard for quite some time,. This was true even before their loss at the semi-final stage of the Eastern Conference playoffs to the New York Knicks, and become especially true after Jayson Tatum suffered a torn Achilles in that series that will keep him out indefinitely.
Suddenly, the next three years began to look very different than what was hypothesised when Holiday signed the extension. With this in mind, he has become the obvious fall guy.
Turning 35 next month and standing on the 16th fairway of his career, Holiday – while unmistakably still a strong two-way NBA player, averaging 11,1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game in a reduced offensive role – is not the needle-mover that he once was. His production has decreased in his two years as a Celtic, and while their three-point-heavy offence, overall depth and heavy reliance on the Tatum/Jaylen Brown duo all factored into that, so did his age.
With over 1,110 games played in his career, Holiday is no spring chicken. If the Clippers do pursue him, then, it would be a short-term move that needs an appropriate price point.
Clippers Might Get A Discount
Although a possibility of using Bogdan Bogdanovic and Drew Eubanks as salary instruments to contract a trade package was floated, Robb’s report does not specifically suggest what the Celtics will look for in return. It bears a mention, however, that the Clippers are short of trade assets.
Giving up what they did for George – and latterly, Harden – has left the Clippers in a net negative draft position. The Clippers have already traded away almost all of their future draft picks, with very little coming back in return, meaning that if the Celtics prioritise future assets in any Holiday deal, the Clippers will be immediately disadvantaged. There will also be competition for Holiday, including supposedly from the Dallas Mavericks, who may push harder for Holiday if they are unsuccessful in their pursuit of San Antonio Spurs guard, Chris Paul.
That said, a combination of factors may help keep the price down. Holiday’s salary, for starters, is not the value it once would have been. Nor is his production where it was when he signed it. And in light of the Tatum news, the Celtics openly need to trade, anticipating a reload in a year that will be lost to his injury anyway.
Perhaps, then, the Clippers can finally get their man, but for a much lower price tag than they were told previously. Both he and they are older than they were in 2023, but perhaps they can grow even older together. A trio of Holiday, Harden and Leonard for the Clippers next season would combine for four NBA championships, 19 All-Star selections, $119 million in salary and 105 years of age. It might still be worth doing, but be sure to bring the ice packs.
