Rumors continue to revolve around the Celtics less than one month from the NBA Draft, when league transaction activity will likely pick up toward what Shams Charania indicated could become one of the busiest offseasons ever. He reported that Boston will make trades this summer, and enter next season with a different roster. How much change happens remains the question.
Jrue Holiday appeared in multiple reports connecting him to the Mavericks and Clippers this week, while additional reporting from Jake Fischer acknowledged the challenge in moving his three-year, $104 million contract in a trade. MassLive first noted LA’s willingness to explore a Holiday deal as they did with Portland in 2023 when Boston acquired him. They’re an intriguing partner if the Celtics pursue a path below the second apron where they take back multiple smaller salaries and later move those to ease their payroll down over time.
The Clippers have various players effectively entering this season on one-year deals. Bogdan Bogdanović ($16M), acquired from Atlanta last season, has a 2026-27 team option. Kris Dunn ($5.4M) and Cam Christie ($2M) have non-guaranteed contracts in 2026-27. Drew Eubanks ($4.8M non-guaranteed for this season) becomes a free agent next summer. Those four players would match Holiday’s salary, hard-capping them $30.7 million below the second apron line if James Harden opts-in to his $36.3 million player option and Nic Batum returns ($4.9M). Harden, named All-NBA earlier this month, will likely explore a new contract.
How much money Harden demands, who LA pivoted toward after losing the Holiday sweepstakes two years ago, will heavily influence how much flexibility the Clippers retain to make other additions. Derrick Jones Jr., signed for two more years at roughly $10 million per season, will almost certainly return in any scenario. The team loved what Dunn provided, despite him shooting 33.5% from three and playing through offensive limitations. He’s also 31 next season, four years younger than Holiday, who will turn 37 by the end of his contract.
More importantly, the Clippers left the luxury tax business last season, and a second year below that line would allow them to more comfortably become a tax team in 2026-27 without repeater penalties. They’re $15.1 million below the tax threshold at the moment, and the aforementioned Holiday trade would leave only $10.9 million for a Harden bump and signing six additional players. That would inevitably position them as a tax team next year. Norman Powell also needs a new long-term contract, and that won’t come cheap after a breakout season. The trade saves the Celtics only $4.2 million out of the roughly $20-25 million they’re currently over the second apron by, leaving them with significant work to do to eventually get under.
Cap complications aside, Holiday would arguably solidify the Clippers, who finished third in defense last season thanks in part to former Celtics advisor Jeff Van Gundy joining the coaching staff, as arguably the best defense in the league alongside the Thunder. That could provide a path to the championship, but the Clippers lost in the first round in each of the past two seasons. Building around Kawhi Leonard always comes with missed games at this point in his career. Holiday comes off a season where he logged 62 games and rested often. He missed most of the first round of the playoffs with a hamstring injury.
The appeal, on the surface, for Boston would come if the Clippers absorb Holiday’s remaining contract without any draft pick compensation. It might take some to convince LA to return to the tax, especially if the Clippers will need trade assets to rebuild its roster depth following the trade. Boston owns the No. 28 and No. 32 overall selections in this year’s draft. Would it be worth forgoing one of those to move off Holiday when the Celtics also need to accumulate young talent toward their roster reset? It’s unclear how easily Boston could re-route the players returning to the Celtics in that trade. That deal would also fill Boston’s 15 roster spots before addressing Al Horford, Luke Kornet and their other free agents’ futures. JD Davison has a team option.
It’s a feasible trade. Holiday grew up in LA and attended UCLA, his agent resides there and the Clippers would allow him to continue contending in the late stages of his career, perhaps even better than the Celtics can next season without Jayson Tatum. LA needs to find ways to reinforce its core without much flexibility to do so before the Leonard era ends. The last two teams who acquired Holiday immediately won championships.
- Brian Windhorst said on ESPN on Thursday that Giannis Antetokounmpo may prefer to remain in the east if he pursues a departure from the Bucks this summer. He would not rule out the Knicks or Celtics as destinations, because they can make a trade, despite cap restrictions that would make completing one difficult. The immediate one is Boston’s second apron status. Since they cannot aggregate contracts or take back $1 more than they send out in a trade, a Jaylen Brown for Giannis swap is not currently legal. The Celtics would need to navigate below the second apron first to make a larger deal possible. Is it worth it given that Boston would need to effectively move on from all of its future draft capital and significant amounts of depth to eventually acquire Antetokounmpo? It’ll depend on the franchise’s belief in forming a perennial contender around Antetokounmpo and Jayson Tatum when the latter returns rather than pursuing other team-building routes. It’s hard to envision that being guaranteed until it’s more clear how Tatum’s achilles recovery progresses.
