Rumors have somehow circulated regarding Jrue Holiday being a potential buyout candidate for the Portland Trail Blazers. That never appeared to be the case.
Ever since getting Holiday back from the Celtics, Portland has made it clear they acquired him with the intention of keeping him this time around.
Things do look differently on the outside now, seeing as they suddenly have a backcourt logjam with Ja Morant's arrival and Damian Lillard's return. Holiday even increased his trade value after a strong season in Portland, making their decision to trade for him look even better.
Blazers aren't in a rush to resolve their backcourt logjam
But ever since they surprisingly landed Morant, Portland has remained consistent in its stance that it has no desire to trade Holiday. That's also aligned with the latest intel from NBA insider Marc Stein.
"I'm likewise told that recent speculation about a Jrue Holiday buyout from the Trail Blazers is erroneous. It has become a popular online pastime to suggest that such an arrangement is percolating that helps route Holiday back to the team that drafted him — which obviously fancies itself as a Superteam now after the Sixers acquired Brown and James — but league sources say Portland is not about to just usher Holiday onto the open market," Stein wrote on The Stein Line. "The Blazers have been messaging for some time that they would like to keep Holiday … even after trading for Ja Morant and with Damian Lillard poised to make a comeback after losing a full season to an Achilles tear. No Jrue Holiday buyout coming."
It's also wild that a return to Philadelphia to team up with LeBron James was part of said circulating rumor. Not sure how Portland ever got involved in that one.
Those around the league are looking at Portland's backcourt with the assumption that it needs an immediate solution, though that's not the message the Blazers front office has been conveying to teams. While they should at least listen to offers for Holiday to see if they can get anything of value after his resurgence, this isn't a problem that needs to be resolved anytime soon.
With that backcourt depth comes multiple unanswered questions. Did buying low on Ja Morant pay off? What percent will Damian Lillard return to form? Are Scoot Henderson and/or Shaedon Sharpe ever going to put it all together?
Holiday's positional versatility gives the Blazers insurance for all these.
Should he become expendable, perhaps Portland could reconsider making Holiday available for trade at February's deadline. But in a season where they have little margin of error to make the playoffs, I'd be somewhat surprised if that was the case.
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