In this conversational YouTube segment, former NBA players Draymond Green and Baron Davis break down the recent flurry of NBA trades involving the Boston Celtics, Portland Trail Blazers, and other teams. They discuss Jrue Holiday’s return to Portland in exchange for rookie guard Anthony Simons and second‑round picks, evaluating how Holiday could serve as a veteran bridge for a young Blazers roster. The duo then examines the Celtics’ acquisition of Simons, arguing that his scoring and floor‑spacing address Boston’s need for guard firepower, especially with Jayson Tatum dealing with injuries. A substantial portion of the conversation is devoted to explaining the NBA’s “second apron” – a hard cap that penalizes teams with excessive luxury‑tax liabilities – and how Boston’s recent moves (trading Kristaps Porziņģis, Holiday, and targeting Jaylen Brown and Derrick White) are aimed at shedding $260 million in projected luxury‑tax exposure. Baron declares Portland a potential sleeper team if they add complementary pieces, while Draymond outlines what the Golden State Warriors must do in free agency to become contenders again, noting the recent addition of “Jimmy” (presumably a key free‑agent) as a pivotal step. Throughout, they touch on the broader league trend away from super‑teams, predicting more fragmented rosters driven by cap constraints.
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Reaction to Jrue Holiday, man, getting traded to the Blazers for Anthony Simons and second round picks. What's your thought on that?
Yeah, I think it's just funny to see Jrue traded back to the Blazers after the Celtics got him from the Blazers in order to help them win the championship. But in saying that, They say Drew don't want to be there. I think that was the case the first time he was traded there as well. But you know, contract situation is different. I think he 3 years left on the deal. So it's kind of not up to you at this point, but we'll see what happens. But you know, you signed the contract, it is what it is. So, you know, the Blazers gonna do what's best for them and they've made that very clear, you know. The best player in Blazer history wanted to be traded to certain places and he wasn't traded to those places that he wanted to be traded to. So they've shown that as a franchise, they gonna do what's best for the Blazers. And you know, so—
And it's a good pickup.
Stay tuned to see how it play out. But I think Jrue can also, whether he, if he stay there, I think, you know, he can be a great asset for Chance, you know, bridging that gap between Chance and, you know, these young guys and kind of being that coach on the floor, that veteran leader who still got game. So, you know, I think still got a way to see how it play out. But, you know, this is a team that is young, um, and definitely rebuilt. So be that it's draft night, I think that's— that may still shake something.
Yeah, okay. Yeah, I can see that still shaking up. But, uh, you know, the Anthony Simons with Boston Uh, for Drew, I can understand why Boston is doing this. Uh, we can understand how he can fit in because Boston doesn't really— they need scoring, they need more scoring guards now because of, you know, one, I would say Jason Tatum going, going down, you know, looking for, for scoring is their dynamic, shooting threes is their dynamic. You got another dude that can really get out, stretch the floor, catch fire. I think it works in their system. But for Drew, I think it's great for Portland and it's great for Drew. You get to mentor, you get to hoop, you're gonna be in at the end of the games. You don't have to worry about, uh, you know, you're gonna be the closer, right? And part of that closing team for the Blazers. And you get to bring Scoop along. And, and I like what Portland had last year. If, uh, as we get closer to see what they do, I'm gonna probably call Portland as my sleeper team. Last year, or this year, you know, my sleeper team was Houston at the beginning of the year. You see what they did. So, you know, Portland, I've been looking at, analyzing. If they make a couple more moves and put a few pieces together, I look at Portland as a team that can make that jump because they're young dudes, are talented, and play hard.
All right, well, we're gonna see as the team shape up. Free agency ain't even started yet, relax.
That's what I'm saying.
Free agency has not started and this man giving a sleeper team. That's ridiculous. What are we doing here?
I'm on it. You know I be doing my scout, man. I got a scout. I got a scout, play GM. I play GM at home.
Free agency ain't started. The draft is just starting and this man is talking about Who he got as a sleeper. And listen, they also, the Celtics also traded Kristaps Porzingis to the Hawks. The Celtics, listen, this is all about the second apron. People said they didn't want super teams anymore. Well, here you have it. All these moves are being made to dodge that second apron. For those out there that don't know what the second apron is, in layman's terms for you, it's a hard cap. It is a hard cap that no owner is dealing with because the penalties are crazy. You lose draft picks, you lose the mid-level exception, you lose roster spots, you lose the ability to get better and compete as a team. And the amount of money that you lose is insanity. And so the Boston Celtics would've had a salary cap with luxury tax bill of $540 million. It is now at $280 because they got rid of those contracts. So, For those that don't understand what the second apron is, as basic as I can put it for you, it is a hard cap. And when I said this before the deal was signed, that this is ridiculous and it's gonna hurt players in the end, no one wanted to listen and everybody wanted to act like the PA was making a great deal. The PA made a shit deal, as the PA has done for years now. And every year, the pot gets bigger and the business gets better and the players get screwed more. That's just how this business works then. And so in saying that, back to the Boston Celtics, that's what all of these moves are about, people. That's why they got rid of Porzingis. That's why they got rid of Jrue Holiday. That's why you're hearing so many people call on Jaylen Brown. You're hearing so many people call on Derrick White. It's because they know they want to get away from that secondary tax. And Jason Tatum being out, things are up in the air. You trade for Anthony Simons, I think, listen, they're the Boston Celtics, they gotta be competitive, but at the end of the day, it's an expiring deal, cap situation, all of those things.
They can recalibrate, yeah.
And you got Jason Tatum hurt, right? So if I had to guess, Jalen Brown, if he have any nicks and nacks this year, probably won't be in the lineup because you're gonna recalibrate, you're gonna let your books settle, and then next year with Jason Tatum coming back, then you try to retool and start going for it again. And that's just how these things work. You'll see this all over the NBA for years to come because that's just the way this, this, um, CBA works. And so you'll see this happen over and over again. That's my spiel. That's the second April. That's the Boston Celtics.
Yeah, we asked for no more super teams, so we definitely gonna get no more super teams, but we also gonna get teams that rise in the draft, do great things in free agency, and they're gonna, it's gonna be more broken up teams than the teams that you grow up on being like, yo, this team has been together for 5 years. That's gonna be hard to do. Especially, you know, having young players becoming great and getting better, uh, with that cap. Moving on. What's up, Dub Nation? Uh, we gonna get into this, Dub Nation, man. We got some questions. What needs to happen this offseason for the Warriors to be real contenders again?
I think, um, you know, The heavy lifting's been done. Like, we added Jimmy. I think that was the biggest thing that needed to happen. Now we got that. Now you can tool around that. You know, our team was too around Steph. Now you know how Jimmy looks in the system. You know how Jimmy likes to play. You can also tool around that as well. So I think, you know, just locking in from that front, understanding what we got, where we can get better, and making those pushes, you know. But free agency is tough, man. Trying to court people and make the best offer. And you don't always know what it is, right? Like for some guys it could be the highest dollar amount, for other guys it could be totally different. So—
Totally.
I think just going into it, it's just all about looking to see like, all right, now we know how it looks. Now we got that part figured out. Now what does it look like around that? And so I think we're in a much better position heading into this one than we were last year.
