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Jrue Holiday has a player option for $37.3 million for the 2024-25 season. While opting out and signing elsewhere is an option, the Boston Celtics knew the risk when they acquired Holiday from the Portland Trail Blazers. Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus explained why he believes Holiday will stay with the Celtics.
“The Boston Celtics didn’t trade for Jrue Holiday to lose him in free agency. His player option is high enough that he may just choose to opt in—or with a rule change in the new collective bargaining agreement, he could opt out and re-sign at a lower starting figure if a multi-year deal makes that worthwhile,” Pincus wrote in a November 7 story.
Pincus then predicted that Holiday would approach his free agency like Chris Paul did a few years ago.
“He opts out and extends at a $30 million starting salary, similar to what Chris Paul did with the Phoenix Suns in 2021.”
The Celtics have several players whose long-term futures with the team are up in the air. Holiday’s, Jayson Tatum’s, and Derrick White’s futures are uncertain. It’s likely the Celtics will do everything in their power to keep Holiday. Especially if they win a title with him as their point guard.
Celtics Praised for ‘Savvy’ Jrue Holiday Trade
Following the news that former Celtics center Robert Williams III will need season-ending surgery following a knee injury, MassLive’s Brian Robb explained why that makes the Celtics trade for Holiday look “savvy.”
“If the Celtics stood pat on the Holiday front back in September and watched the point guard go to another contender (Clippers?), Boston would be left in a miserable situation right now in the wake of Williams’ injury. One key trade and rotation asset would have vanished for the short term with his injury,” Robb wrote in a November 8 story.
Robb added that the Celtics would have had to keep Malcolm Brogdon, who was unhappy with the team before trading him to Portland.
“Meanwhile, Malcolm Brogdon would still have been unhappy with the team in all likelihood in the wake of an early attempted trade to the Clippers back in June. For a team set on contending now, finding any meaningful in-season upgrades would have been daunting without emptying the team’s draft asset stash.”
The Celtics hurt their depth when they traded for Holiday but traded two unreliable players despite their talent. Acquiring Holiday gives Boston a more durable player.
Jrue Holiday Shouts Payton Pritchard After Breakout Game
Following Payton Pritchard’s performance against the Brooklyn Nets, Holiday shouted out his teammate, noting how hard he is to stop when he’s hitting three-pointers.
“Knowing (Pritchard), he can get to the basket, he can score whenever he wants to but knowing when his 3-PT shot is falling is damn near unstoppable,” Holiday said during his postgame press conference on November 10, via Celtics on NBC Sports Boston’s X account.
The Celtics’ game against the Nets marked the first Pritchard had put any points on the board since the Celtics’ game against the Indiana Pacers on November 1. Pritchard has not started the 2023-24 season great, but his previous production would indicate that his struggles are more the exception than the norm.
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