The Portland Trail Blazers adding Ja Morant made many teams expect to have a chance at trading for Jrue Holiday. Point guards Morant and Damian Lillard both being on Portland’s roster could have made Holiday more expendable. However, it turns out that the Trail Blazers want to keep all point guards for a unique dynamic.
NBA Insider Jake Fischer revealed the current discussions involving the Blazers and Holiday:
“Even with (the Morant trade), the Trail Blazers have envisioned Ja Morant, Damian Lillard, and Jrue Holiday all playing in the same backcourt. They have also rejected any trade interest in Jrue Holiday up to this point in the summer.
If they were to trade Holiday, Portland would likely find some good value for him in the trade market. So, to that degree, they are certainly not expecting to do a buyout agreement with him. They want him in Portland.”
Fischer also shared that Portland is actively turning down offers and not willing to engage in real discussions about moving Holiday. All three former NBA All-Star guards will have to split time as the Blazers hope to contend in the loaded West. Playing time for younger scorers Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe may become more difficult for Portland to play everyone.
Why Blazers Want To Keep Jrue Holiday
Holiday has been traded to the Trail Blazers twice from the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics in recent memory. The first one featured Portland dealing Holiday to Boston where he won an NBA Championship. Fischer also mentioned that Blazers General Manager Joe Cronin never wanted to trade him then.
Holiday ended up traded again when Boston needed to shed salary cap space via losing Jrue and Kristaps Porzingis to help their future. Portland decided to make the move for Holiday and kept him this year for the entirety of last season.
The veteran presence and defense of Holiday helped the Trail Blazers overachieve last season with Lillard injured. Deni Avdija had an All-Star season, but Holiday helped provide the leadership. Portland doesn’t want to lose Holiday and hopes to see this season play out with him on the same roster as Lillard and Morant.
Blazers Could Change Mind During Season
The biggest doubt about keeping Holiday goes back to adding Morant to the roster. Portland realized that Morant’s trade value was lower than ever from the Memphis Grizzlies and decided to prioritize adding more talent over looking purely at positional fits.
Lillard’s return also sees a franchise all-time great, if not the greatest Trail Blazer ever, giving fans a lot of excitement after he missed all of last season to rehab from an injury. Portland would likely have to trade either Morant or Holiday if the plan to use all three in the rotation fails.
The Trail Blazers have other talented names on the roster, like Donovan Clingan and Toumani Camara, to provide depth at the other positions. However, they will likely opt to play smaller given the three talents being proven performers. Any negative momentum or struggles to play together could see more trades coming.
Blazers Have Surprising Reaction To Jrue Holiday Trade Offers