The NBA's first trade domino post-Finals occurred last night when the Boston Celtics traded Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers for Anfernee Simons and two second-round picks. The move signaled that the Blazers are looking to make a playoff run after finishing last season 12th in the West with a 36-46 record, 12 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the 8th seed.
Jrue Holiday was originally traded to Portland in the Damian Lillard trade to the Milwaukee Bucks in the summer of 2023, but was traded to Boston before the beginning of the regular season. Portland proved to be a young team on the rise when they won 10 out of 11 games from mid-January to early February after beginning the season with a 14-28 record.
One of the Grizzlies' losses during their second-half slide came at the hands of the Trail Blazers with a 115-99 defeat at Portland on March 19th. That was also the last game Grizzlies' reserve forward Brandon Clarke played, as he left with a knee injury that ultimately ended the rest of his season. With Portland adding a championship-level experienced guard to their lineup, here's what Memphis needs to do to remain ahead of them in the West standings.
Stick to their plan
Most pundits would have predicted that the Grizzlies got worse after trading Desmond Bane, but are expected to make additional moves with the four first-round draft picks received in the move. Also, they received Kentavious-Caldwell, who is only one of three players to win multiple championships since 2020 (Jrue Holiday and Alex Caruso are the others).
While it feels like Caldwell-Pope is the equivalent of what Jrue Holiday will be for the Blazers, utilizing other players, such as the one received in the Bane trade, Cole Anthony, will likely be part of the team's plan to improve. The offseason is still young as the NBA draft approaches, so Memphis does not need to panic, as they are still likely better than Portland as currently constructed.
Pivot to other targets
The other domino to fall with the Blazers' trade for Holiday is rumored Grizzlies' target, Deni Avdija, is likely to remain with the team as one of their bright young players. Avdija had a breakout second half of the regular season for the Blazers and appears to be one of their building blocks after not being included in their trade to acquire Jrue Holiday.
The Grizzlies likely have other targets they have in mind to look to acquire with their assets, so potentially missing out on Avdija isn't the end of the world. However, this move did signal that the team must prioritize other avenues to fill their small forward position, as Portland is looking to compete with them in the Western Conference standings.