Blazers originally sought four to five firsts for Jrue Holiday, demanded Robert Williams III

Boston reportedly had the green light to do “whatever it takes” to win a banner this season from the team’s ownership group.

Fans of the Boston Celtics who are looking at the trade for Jrue Holiday as a very expensive one should know that the original asking price, per a recent article by the Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach, was considerably steeper than what the Celtics ultimately paid.

“Portland was seeking a haul that included four or five future first-round picks,” writes Himmelsbach, noting that Boston had the green light to do “whatever it takes” to win a banner this season from the team’s ownership group. “The Blazers were not required to make a deal that suited Holiday, but a league source said the guard’s camp provided Portland with a short list of preferred destinations, and the Celtics were on it,” added the Globe reporter.

Many fans hoped Boston would be able to find a way to get Holiday on the team’s roster without dealing away big man Robert Williams III or veteran forward Al Horford.

But the “Blazers made it clear that Williams, the oft-injured but athletic big man who has shown flashes of dominance, needed to be part of the deal”, which, with several other teams alo in pursuit of Holiday, seems like an unavoidable outcome in retrospect.

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