Jayson Tatum Details Celtics Meeting After Jrue Holiday Trade
The Celtics made aggressive moves this past offseason, including trading for Jrue Holiday, but Jayson Tatum knew tough conversations needed to be had before the season started.
Boston traded Marcus Smart as part of a three-team deal that brought Kristaps Porzingis to the Celtics. Grant Williams was shipped off to the Dallas Mavericks. And after the Milwaukee Bucks traded for Damian Lillard — a trade that sent Holiday to the Trail Blazers, Boston came in and sent Robert Williams III and Malcolm Brogdon to Portland for the two-time All-Star.
The trade made the Celtics the team to beat in the Eastern Conference, and while depth key contributors from the 2022 NBA Finals team were shipped off, the C’s had a competitive roster on paper.
But the Holiday trade threw a wrench in the expected starting five of Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Tatum, Al Horford and Porzingis. It was a good problem to have for head coach Joe Mazzulla, but Tatum gathered the group together days before the season started to get a message across.
“I wanted us to get in the room and talk about it,” Tatum told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “We all are human and have feelings, and I opened the floor and basically said, There’s six of us. Only five can play at one time. One of us is not going to finish the game all the time.
“Whether it’s fair or not, me and JB are probably going to always start, and always finish the game. But we have to be held to a different standard and be able to be coached differently. Whether it’s KP and Al, one of you guys may not finish a game, and you have to be OK with that.”
Mazzulla said before the season the starting lineup would be fluid, but when healthy, Boston has gone with Holiday, White, Brown, Tatum and Porzingis as the starting five with Horford off the bench. The Celtics started off hot and were the top team in the Eastern Conference through 14 games.
“I think, honestly, it was a very important moment for us,” Porzingis told ESPN. “Just to kind of look each other in the eye, and know that we’re here for one job, and to understand that we’re all going to be willing to make some sacrifices.”
There were large expectations set for Tatum to lead the team and for Holiday, who essentially was the man tasked with replacing Smart. And the players-only meeting could have huge effects for later in the season.
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“It means a lot,” Holiday told ESPN. “Even just knowing that we had it early, we had it before the season started. We didn’t have to figure this out later on, or let it linger and kind of keep it under the rug.
“It was good to have it at the time we had it.”
Horford has been able to start games with Brown and Porzingis missing matchups due to injury. But Tatum taking the reins and becoming the leader fans hoped he would become could go a long way as the Celtics hope to win the franchise’s 18th championship this season.