With an untenably high payroll and a future made uncertain by Jayson Tatum’s torn Achilles, the Boston Celtics have tumbled from the NBA’s mountaintop and crash-landed between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
The Miami Heat could offer their Eastern Conference rivals a way out—and pick up the perfect backcourt partner for All-Star guard Tyler Herro in the process.
As ESPN’s Bobby Marks laid out, the Celtics are currently staring at “$231 million in salary and a $263 million tax penalty.” So, it’s no wonder why ESPN’s Shams Charania previously reported “the Celtics will be exploring trade options in the offseason.”
Boston desperately needs to trim its financial commitments, and by helping make that happen, Miami could put its roster in much better shape for next season.
Jrue Holiday is both a logical trade candidate for the Celtics and an enticing trade target for the Heat.
As Boston begins the conversations of which veterans are expendable, it shouldn’t take long for Holiday’s name to come up. He’s the oldest core member on the roster (Al Horford is an unrestricted free agent), owed a huge sum of money ($104.4 million over the next three seasons, per Spotrac) and coming off one of the least productive campaigns of his career.
Shouldn’t those be reasons for Miami to stay away? Not necessarily.
If the Heat believe Holiday still has some good basketball ahead of him—his counting stats were surely impacted by the quality of the Celtics’ rotation—then maybe they sense some bargain potential here. While there’s no getting around his contract costs, those should also reduce his trade costs down to…well, maybe nothing of consequence. There’s even a chance Boston will have to incentivize someone to take him off its hands.
So, what could the Heat expect to get in return from an exchange that should require nothing beyond salary-filler? Well, maybe a pretty perfect basketball fit with Herro.
Think about what Herro needs in a backcourt mate. Defensive resistance tops the list, and Holiday earned All-Defensive honors in four of the past five seasons. Off-ball utility comes next, since maximizing Herro requires utilizing all of his on-ball value. Holiday is a 37 percent career three-point shooter who just ranked sixth among Boston’s rotation regulars in usage percentage (15.8, per Basketball-Reference).
In other words, Holiday can ace the exact role the Heat would set aside for him. He might even play it a bit better than he has in Boston, since Miami would steer more touches his way. And he’s more than capable on that front, too, having previously averaged 18-plus points five different times (including twice in his 30s).
The Heat need to do something this summer. Running back a roster that just won 37 games and was swept out of the first round feels like committing to additional mileage on the treadmill of mediocrity.
Getting Holiday would count as something. It just shouldn’t cost anything of substance. Between the price and the potential impact, it’s at least worth a long conversation. Miami can feel like it’s “going for it” without having to pony up any going-for-it assets.
