What is going on with Jrue Holiday?
That's the $32 million question every Portland Trail Blazers fan wants to know. Holiday has now missed over a month and a half, last playing on Nov. 14 when he suffered a right calf strain in their blowout loss to the Houston Rockets.
At the time, Holiday was set to be re-evaluated in 1-2 weeks, a timeline that has passed considerably. Leading up to the Blazers' game against the Sacramento Kings on Dec. 18, interim head coach Tiago Splitter said that Holiday is "getting there, but he's not ready."
"I want him to get 100% and feel good," Splitter added. "He's such an important player for us, and I don't want to risk anything... He had a couple of workouts, but he's not 100% yet."
Portland recently provided another update regarding the status of Holiday, Scoot Henderson, Matisse Thybulle, and Jerami Grant. Henderson will be re-evaluated in two weeks, while Holiday remains without a specific recovery timeline.
Various injury updates from the Trail Blazers ... with still no specific recovery timetable listed for Jrue Holiday after Portland lost Holiday in mid-November to a calf injury: pic.twitter.com/AhtyJGJbNp
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 1, 2026
Jrue Holiday's timeline to return remains a mystery
It's a disappointing and confusing development. Holiday is just one of the Blazers' players whose injuries have seemingly dragged on. Scoot Henderson (hamstring) has yet to play a game this season, and Matisse Thybulle (thumb) has not played since October, when he was set to be re-evaluated in 4-6 weeks.
This entire year has given fans mixed emotions. At the beginning of the season, the general theme was optimism. It appeared as though Portland won its Anfernee Simons-Jrue Holiday swap with the Boston Celtics. Holiday was turning back the clock and taking on an increased playmaking role to fill the Henderson void.
Portland overcame its brutal early schedule by winning five of its first eight games. They even defeated the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder, arguably the two best teams in the league.
Their newfound defensive identity looked legit, and Portland was on track to be an elite defensive team, building off their strong finish to last season. Holiday played a role in that with his versatile perimeter defense, despite his declining athleticism at age 35.
Blazers have struggled without Jrue Holiday
But unfortunately, things started to go downhill after Holiday left the picture.
Portland immediately lost three straight, contributing to an 8-14 record since Nov. 14. On the season, the Blazers are leading the league in turnovers at 17.2 per game. Their defense has also fallen apart, as they now rank 20th in defensive rating (113.2).
This goes to show the value of having a two-way guard like Holiday. In some ways, it should also justify the trade. But are we sure that Portland will ever return to the team fans saw for a brief glimpse at the start of the season?
Holiday's injury is clearly more severe than many initially expected, and it's not unreasonable to see a decline in production at this point in his career. That was the case last season in Boston, when Holiday averaged 11.1 points and 3.9 assists in 62 games played.
Hopefully, that isn't the case, and the Blazers pick up right where they left off when Holiday went down. But there's a growing sense of uncertainty surrounding this team and season in particular. Everyone's injuries are taking longer than expected, and fans are confused about the team's overall situation.
Holiday's extended, quiet absence is the leading cause of these mixed feelings. And quite frankly, it still remains to be seen whether trading for him was actually in the Blazers' best interest.