Chatter of a Jrue Holiday buyout suddenly emerged for the Portland Trail Blazers, and the thought should have immediately provoked head-scratching confusion everywhere. Even amid a less than brilliant time for the franchise, why would the Blazers ever consider that?
The truth of the matter, if the latest rumors are correct, is Portland never really did give it any thought. That is what The Stein Line reported in a recent round-up of whispers around the league.
"I'm likewise told that recent speculation about a Jrue Holiday buyout from the Trail Blazers is erroneous. The Blazers have been messaging for some time that they would like to keep Holiday. ... No Jrue Holiday buyout coming."
This should not be a surprise to anyone. Holiday's overall value, well-positioned salary, and status as the ultimate insurance policy makes the idea of buying him out range anywhere between willfully ignorant or downright ludicrous.
Jrue Holiday is a Blazers asset, not a financial detriment
Why would the Blazers buy out a player who has trade value? That is the first legitimate question with these conversations.
Holiday may be 36 years old, but the two-time champion is coming off a resurgent campaign. Jrue averaged 16.3 points, 6.1 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.0 steal for the Blazers last season. That version of him looked a lot closer to the player who played a pivotal role in a Boston Celtics championship than the one they discarded to avoid heavy second apron penalties.
The Blazers would undoubtedly net real value in any outgoing package under the circumstances of actually wanting to move him. Why lose that opportunity with a buyout?
Jrue Holiday sets up the Blazers for opportunistic star-chasing
Does Holiday's $34.8 million match up perfectly to the quality of player he is entering the 2026-27 season? No. That much is fair to grant.
For a Blazers team who only has three contracts valued at $20 million or more next season, including him, they can afford that price tag. Not only that, but Holiday's contract sets them up to chase an available star when the time comes.
His $34.8 million for this season, or the $37.2 million player option that Jrue should be accepting for 2027-28, give the Blazers an excellent financial starting point for a star-level trade. That only becomes more true for the latter campaign, when his deal is an expiring contract.
Pairing Holiday with one of the Blazers' mid-tier contracts, plus draft capital, could help land a big name for Portland. Otherwise, they can just have that money come off the books themselves, too.
Ja Morant and Damian Lillard need an insurance policy in Portland
In the meantime, Holiday has plenty of value to the on-court product of the Blazers by sticking around in Portland. Conversations about a jam-packed backcourt ignore two important injury concerns.
For one, Ja Morant is as big of a health risk as they come. Even Damian Lillard is coming off missing an entire year as a mid-30s guy. Keeping Holiday allows the Blazers someone who can always scale down or scale up, in terms of role, when it is required.
Plus, even when the Blazers do want to get a little freaky and experiment with guard-heavy lineups, Holiday's size and strength give him excellent positional versatility. That gives Jrue yet another reason he is important to the plans in Portland, and a cherry on top of why a buyout is not coming anytime soon.
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