Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens made many tremendous roster moves over the last few years to surround Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown with a supporting cast that could vault the team to championship status.
And the move that likely had the greatest impact was trading for Jrue Holiday.
Holiday became available after he was dealt to the Portland Trail Blazers as part of the trade that sent Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks last September. A few days later, the Celtics acquired Holiday from the Blazers in exchange for Robert Williams III, Malcolm Brogdon and two first-round picks.
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Holiday brought championship experience -- he was the only player on the roster with a ring -- scoring depth and fantastic perimeter defense. He made so many clutch plays during the 2024 playoff run, including the Game 5 clincher in the 2024 NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks when he scored 15 points with 11 rebounds and four assists.
Stevens stopped by NBC Sports Boston's Celtics Pregame Live on Monday night to talk to Brian Scalabrine and Eddie House. Holiday joined in and had a special message for the Celtics exec.
"Thanks, man," Holiday told Stevens, as seen around the 2:10 mark of the video player above. "Thanks for bringing me here and being a part of this. There's no better feeling than this."
Holiday made history in Game 5 by becoming the first player in league history to win a championship in his first season with two separate franchises (minimum 30 minutes per game in the playoffs).
The next challenge for the Celtics will be trying to repeat as champs, which no team has done since the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018. But luckily for the Celtics, they'll have Holiday back in the fold next season. He signed a four-year contract extension with the team back in April.
