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Jrue Holiday has a player option for $37.3 million for the 2024-25 season. He could potentially leave the Boston Celtics if he doesn’t see a long-term future with the team. However, Holiday indicated in an interview with MassLive’s Brian Robb that he would like to stay in Boston long-term.
“I’d like to be here,” Holiday told Robb in a January 26 story. “I feel like I’m getting more and more comfortable, loving the guys, loving the organization, and loving the city.”
Per CBA rules, the Celtics aren’t allowed to talk with Holiday about an extension until April. However, Holiday sounded optimistic they could get a deal done before the season ends.
“My last extension was during the course of the year,” Holiday explained. “I think that we can do both, talk about it and as well as prepare for games and prepare for what the future is.”
Holiday also sounds like he’s comfortable with his role and who his teammates are going forward.
“I think everybody kind of knows we’re set, and we’re set for a long period,” Holiday said. “No matter what happens, you are going to come back here with the same guys for the most part. Things happen but I think you lock into that, being able to have that comfortability and just kind of that pressure off of you about what’s next.”
The Celtics will also have to take care of some of their other players’ long-term futures, including Jayson Tatum and Derrick White.
Jrue Holiday Calls Celtics-Heat Rivalry ‘Fun’
After the Celtics beat the Miami Heat on January 25, Jrue Holiday told NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin what it’s like to be part of the Celtics-Heat rivalry.
“It’s fun,” Holiday told Chin via Celtics on NBC Sports Boston’s X account. “It’s fun to be a part of a rivalry. It’s fun to be something bigger than yourself. To be on this team has been amazing for me.”
Holiday also praised the Heat as a team and explained how the Celtics handled them as well as they did.
“They’re a team that plays defense very well,” Holiday said. “They scramble a lot and try to run people off the three. I think we had a lot of ball movement and got some wide-open shots.
The Heat have given the Celtics plenty of trouble for the past few postseasons. They’ve beaten them in the Eastern Conference Finals twice and took them to the very last second in the one they lost. Their postseason matchups have created a rivalry between the two sides.
Jamal Crawford Explains Jrue Holiday’s Impact in Milwaukee
The Milwaukee Bucks traded Jrue Holiday for Damian Lillard. While they’ve still been one of the league’s best teams, they sorely miss Holiday’s defense. The Bucks allow 116.7 points per 100 possessions, which ranks no. 20 among NBA teams, per NBA.com.
Former Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford explained on NBA on TNT what Holiday brings that Lillard does not.
“[Damian Lillard] is a better scorer… But Jrue Holiday is a connector. Everybody loved him, the whole city [of Milwaukee] loved him,” Crawford said, which ClutchPoints aggregated in a video that has since been deleted.
The fact remains that had the Bucks not done that, Holiday wouldn’t be a Celtic, and he’s played a role in the Celtics’ blistering start.
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