Holiday possesses valuable playoff experience and leadership skills. He can improve any team in the NBA on defense and provides supportive ball-handling, playing off of high-usage stars on any team.
The Celtics are hard-capped at the second apron, due to the massive contracts on the books, and Holiday makes more than $34 million over the upcoming two seasons.
His deal makes the 35-year-old expendable for a Boston team that won’t compete for a title in the upcoming season.
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On the trade block, there could be several suitors for Holiday, though Conor Roche of Boston.com highlighted an interesting Eastern Conference team with a ton of assets as a potential suitor.
“If the Pistons are looking for some more veteran presence to put alongside Cade Cunningham, Holiday would be a good fit, especially if they want to run a three-guard lineup alongside Jaden Ivey,” Roche wrote.
“Detroit’s also an over-the-cap team. However, every player on its active roster outside of Cunningham can be moved in a deal for Holiday.
“An easy way to get a deal done would be a Holiday for Tobias Harris swap, which would clear $5.8 million in salary for the Celtics and give them help along the perimeter.
“If Detroit wants to keep Harris, it could give up center Isaiah Stewart, forward Simone Fontecchio, and one of guard Marcus Sasser or forward Bobi Klintman.”
