"I hope he just doesn't go to the Celtics" - Bobby Portis on what his thoughts were when the Bucks traded Jrue Holiday for Damian Lillard

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The Milwaukee Bucks were hell-bent on winning the Damian Lillard sweepstakes last summer, and they were willing to give up Jrue Holiday, a key piece of their 2022 title team, to land Dame Time.

Fast forward to today, and Jrue helped the Boston Celtics win the 2024 championship while the Bucks are left scratching their heads.

Looking back, Milwaukee's forward Bobby Portis still can't believe that Jrue ended up with Boston when there were 28 other teams to which he could've been sent.

"I remember like when we first traded him like I just hope…I don't care where he goes, man, I hope he just don't go to the Celtics," Portis said during the recent episode of the Run it Back podcast on FanDuel TV.

The Bucks helped Boston

Acquiring Lillard wasn't easy. The Bucks and the Portland Trail Blazers needed the Phoenix Suns to facilitate the trade. In that three-team deal, Phoenix got Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Nassir Little, and Keon Johnson, while the Blazers added Holiday and Deandre Ayton.

However, the rebuilding Blazers had no intention of keeping Jrue. Boston swooped in and offered Malcolm Brogdon, Robert Williams, and two future first-round picks for Holiday. Portland agreed, and Portis' nightmare became a reality.

"I swear, like 48 hours later, I see Jrue Holiday has been traded to the Boston Celtics. And I was like, 'Oh man, this is crazy'...Out of all the teams, 28 more teams that he could've went to. But it's all good," he said.

Jrue turned the C's into serious title contenders

It turns out that it wasn't only Portis who couldn't believe that Holiday ended up in Boston. Even Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum was shocked that his team pulled off such a franchise-altering trade in such a short period.

As the Celtics celebrated the 18th championship in franchise history on Sunday evening, it was their dynamic duo of Tatum and Jaylen Brown that led the way. However, if you ask any Celtic fan, they will tell you that Jrue was the missing piece that turned them from a team that couldn't seem to win the big one to the 2024 NBA champions.