paulpressey25 wrote:AussieBuck wrote:Neuromancer56 wrote:I agree, the only bad thing about that trade was that Jrue went to the Celtics. But that is a significantly bad thing. Though their front office is so good they probably would have come up with some other good trade if they couldn't have gotten Jrue.
I don't see how he's more useful to them than Smart was. KP is the guy who makes or breaks them and most likely he breaks himself and then they are just the standard Celtics with less Giannis coverage.
Yep. KP is the guy that unlocked them. Had they kept Brogdon and Smart, but added KP, feels like they’d be even better.
While Porzingis is definitely the primary difference maker, giving them options they never had before, the Holiday/Smart change has been meaningful.
I don't think Jrue is a much better player than Marcus, but they are stylistically very different. In previous seasons the Celtics had a regular tendency to get frazzled. Smart added to that because he plays so hot and wild. By contrast Holiday plays cool and controlled, and routinely settles them. That's the biggest Jrue benefit and its nonstatistical.
For stats, last year's Smart minutes and FGA and this year's Jrue are pretty much the same, with low volume in attempts. But Holiday's percentages are way better: Holiday 5.72 efg, .440 3p% vs Smart .511 efg%, .336 3p%.
Compounding that, Smart took many late clock crunch time shots, whereas Holiday does not. (This is a Porzingis benefit as the Celtics have better options now.). Opposing defenses wanted Smart shooting those shots and overplayed Tatum and Brown to make that happen. They can't do that this year. Holiday has been killer from 3, leads the Celtics in 3p%, and is among the league leaders.
As far as the Celtics' bench, though the Celtics reportedly wanted Grant Williams back, they haven't missed him, and I don't know whose minutes he'd take, at least not regularly. They did just add wide body Tillman (we'll see if he even gets time). I thought Brogdon would leave a huge whole in their bench, but that hasn't happened. I did not believe Hauser and Pritchard could make the jump from 9th/10th men to 7th/8th men effectively, but they have. Horford became the 6th man where he benefits by carrying a lighter load.
The Celtics bench has the best net rating in the league. This is helped by their starters. That stat doesn't at all mean they're the best bench, but it does mean something positive.
One last thing about Jrue Holiday. His usage is the lowest of his career. He's the fifth option on offense. He gets to pick and choose his spots on that end which has contributed to his high percentages. It also means the Celtics do not need him to overperform as much as when he was a higher option for the Bucks.
