"We lost a part of the culture, the DNA that he brought to the Celtics" - Pierce says Boston lost more than just a player by trading Holiday originally appeared on Basketball Network .
Paul Pierce wasn't too excited to hear that the Boston Celtics had traded Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers for Anfernee Simons .
The former Celtics captain said that Holiday was more than just a very good basketball player whose contributions helped the C's win the NBA championship in 2024. According to Paul, Jrue was a team leader who brought his championship DNA to Boston and helped build their championship culture.
"People are going to look at this trade and say, 'Hey, they got younger, they got some draft picks, they got a guy that averaged 19.' But I don't look at it like that. We lost a lot in this trade. We lost a champion, we lost a leader in the locker room. We lost a part of the culture, the DNA that he brought to the Celtics. That was valuable," said Pierce. "But I understand the trade. Jrue has a couple of more years left in his contract, at a steep price for his production. Anfernee has one year left."
With Jayson Tatum expected to be out for a significant part of the 2025-26 season and the team projected to pay a massive luxury tax bill because of their salaries, the Celtics were expected to move several players this offseason.
Jrue was the first one to go, as Boston not only got rid of the $72 million they owed him for 2026-27 and 2027-28 but also got a cheaper player. Simons will make $25.9 million this season and $27.6 million next season, compared to Holiday's $30 million and $32.4 million, respectively.
The swap gave the Celtics a projected tax savings of $40 million for the 2025-26 season and also put them just $18 million above the dreaded second apron. They could easily go below the apron with a second move and save more tax money.
That next move happened less than 24 hours later when they traded Kristaps Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks for Georges Niang . By doing so, Brad Stevens unloaded KP's $30.7 million salary for next season while taking in Niang's $8.5 million deal. This deal moved Boston below the second apron and increased their tax savings further to $180 million .
Considering Boston did not have to surrender a first-round pick to cut its tax penalties by a massive amount, Stevens's moves to trade Holiday and Porzingis were a masterclass. However, Pierce believes that the C's lost more than just a very good starter in Jrue.
"To me, this wasn't a move to try and help the Celtics for next year and get better, possibly win a championship. This was a business move. So, if you look at it as a business move, it probably was a good move. But me, just not having Jrue there for the Celtics, what he brought to the team, I don't like this trade," said Pierce.
When Holiday came to Boston, he brought the championship experience he earned with the Milwaukee Bucks . Jrue was also a three-time winner of the Twyman-Stokes NBA Teammate of the Year award, so he was also very valuable to the Boston locker room. There's no doubt that Simons can make up for Holiday's statistical production, especially scoring. However, the intangibles that they lost can't be grown on trees.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 25, 2025, where it first appeared.
