The Boston Celtics have made tough decisions about who will replace Jrue Holiday’s role on the team and who will replace Jrue Holiday’s role.
Ahead of the 2025-26 season, the Boston Celtics parted ways with veteran guard Jrue Holiday. Holiday was traded with the Portland Trail Blazers following a two-year stint in Boston.
- Portland Trail Blazers received: Jrue Holiday
- The Boston Celtics received: Anfernee Simons, 2nd Future Draft Picks
The move was made to get under the second apron next season, in order to avoid a $32.4 million salary for the Holiday.
But does that mean that the former Blazers security guard will play a nod in the starting five with Holiday being replaced by the Anfernee Simons? Former NBA player Dorell Wright thinks this is a bad idea.
Before trading with the Celtics, Simons had a seven-year stint with the Portland Trail Blazers. Of the seven seasons, Simons played the role that started in the last three seasons.
Clearly, Simons’ hopes are to play a similar role with the Celtics. But Wright is not involved in this idea.
“I’m not rolling it, to bring in a young gunner, he doesn’t know how to win. He takes him to the winning organization, he’s losing,” Wright said in a timeout.
If it’s not Simons, who should get those minutes? Wright believes that it should be anything but Payton Pritchard.
“And you got Payton Pritchard there, which, in my opinion, is a slap in the face.
“That’s crazy for me,” he concluded.
Pritchard had an incredible 2024-25 season, even garnering “great” praise from Bill Simmons. With that in mind, rewarding Pritchard with the starting roll next season is not the worst idea.
The easiest way to resolve this argument is to compare what the two stars did last season.
| statistics | Payton Pritchard | Anfernee Simons |
| point | 14.3 ppg | 19.3 ppg |
| rebound | 3.8 RPG | 2.7 RPG |
| assist | 3.5 APG | 4.8 APG |
| Field goal rate | 47.2% | 42.6% |
| 3 points rate | 40.7% | 36.3% |
Simons scored points per game and led Pritchard in assists, but don’t forget how the two stars got the numbers.
Pritchard is a more consistent shooter from the field and deep, playing only 28.7 minutes per game from the bench.
Meanwhile, Simons averaged his numbers while being the starter for all 70 appearances last season. He also played 32.7 minutes per game.
That being said, we must agree with Wright’s statement that inserting Simmons directly into Pritchard’s first five would be a bad move.