The Boston Celtics had to break up their core ahead of the 2025-26 NBA season.
The decision came in light of the front office wanting to avoid getting slammed with huge luxury taxes under the second apron.
To do so, the Boston Celtics made multiple trades. For instance, Jrue Holiday was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Speaking of Holiday, Celtics’ Payton Pritchard recently made a heartwarming admission about the 2x NBA champion.
Although Holiday was a member of the Celtics for just two seasons, he was a key figure in the team’s locker room.
Holiday was also the defensive anchor of the team during their 2024 NBA Championship run. Coming to Pritchard’s thoughts on Holiday, the Celtics guard made an emotional admission on the Celtics Talk podcast.
“It definitely sucks. You become brothers with your teammates, definitely going to miss them. It’s part of the business side. You have to move on,” Pritchard said.
He added: “I’m personally really going to miss Jrue, like a big brother, someone I’ve learned a lot from, one of the best teammates I’ve ever had, competitors, he’s the reason we won a championship. Going to miss him a lot.”
With Holiday traded and Jayson Tatum potentially out for a huge chunk of the regular season, there’s a serious concern about the C’s postseason hopes next season.
As mentioned earlier, not many are expecting the Celtics to make the postseason, let alone compete for an NBA Championship next season.
However, Pritchard’s statement after Holiday’s departure may hint at different plans.
“We’ve got to regroup, find new identities, people got to step up, and we’ve got to get back to that level,” Pritchard stated.
He also praised Kristaps Porzingis, ‘heck of a talent’ and said he was happy for Luke Kornet to land a big deal.
Keeping Pritchard’s comments in mind, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he takes over Holiday’s role as the locker room leader and the glue that holds the team together.
