Ex-Celtic's latest injury only makes Jrue Holiday trade look more genius

Malcolm Brogdon's new injury only further proves how smart it was for the Celtics to get Holiday.

Jrue Holiday / David Butler II-Imagn Images

After winning a title, no one is questioning the Boston Celtics' acquiring Jrue Holiday nowadays. Holiday truly impacts every part of the game, but what's more, Holiday showed how durable he is in Boston, which is more than one can say about who the Celtics traded to get him.

If Robert Williams' latest injury wasn't enough, it turns out ex-Celtic Malcolm Brogdon has also suffered his latest setback. The Athletic's Josh Robbins reported that Brogdon injured his shooting hand during practice.

Malcolm Brogdon injured his shooting hand during yesterday's practice, Wizards coach Brian Keefe just said. Brogdon is headed back to D.C. now to get some imaging done. That imaging will reveal the extent of the injury.

— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) October 6, 2024

Much like Williams, no one in Boston is happy to see Brogdon get hurt because even though he didn't necessarily like being their sixth man, he still accepted that role with the Celtics and thrived well enough in it to get him the Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2023.

But it does prove that the Celtics made the right call trading him and Williams for Holiday when they had the chance. For all of the talent that both Brogdon and Williams have, having them on the team also comes with the massive risk of either one or both of them getting hurt.

Both played 45 games combined for Portland last year and could very well start the next season on the shelf. Despite what they can bring, that's how big of a risk it is to have those two on a contending roster. Now, compare that to Holiday.

Besides being an all-around upgrade in their backcourt, Holiday did not come with such risk when the Celtics got him from Portland, and the rest was history from there. In short, describing what he brings to the floor doesn't come with the disclaimer of "if he can just stay healthy" when talking about his game, unlike the two Celtics alumni that were traded for him.

The Celtics could have feasibly won the title with Brogdon and Williams still on the team, but their subsequent injury histories since Boston traded them prove exactly why they didn't want to roll the dice on them again.

Instead, they went with much less risk and higher reward in Holiday, and look where it got them.