Acquiring Jrue Holiday for the expiring contract of Anfernee Simons has aged like fine wine for the Portland Trail Blazers. Maybe something grown in Dundee, Oregon. That's wine country, if you didn't know. But how does Holiday's addition stack up with similar offseason additions from other guard-needy teams?
That depends on what criteria you're looking at. If you want a bargain deal, Holiday is not that — he's making $32 million per year, after all. But when you consider what the Blazers gave up to get him, combined with the value he's already brought to the Blazers backcourt, he might stand out among the group of offseason moves.
Orlando acquiring Desmond Bane was the biggest guard trade this summer. The Magic gave up four first-rounders to get Bane, who is finding his level after a brutal start. I am as pro-trading picks as they come, and I think Bane will eventually look more like the borderline All-Star he is every night, but when compared to the Jrue Holiday deal, the Blazers feel like they made out like bandits.
Comparing Jrue Holiday to other point guard acquisitions
Down south in Atlanta, the Hawks added Nickeil Alexander-Walker via sign-and-trade deal. His contract is for 4 years, $72 million, and the Hawks had to give up just a future second-rounder and cash to get him. That's a pretty dang good deal for NAW, who is averaging a career-high 17.2 points per game for the Hawks.
Meanwhile, Chicago signed Josh Giddey for $25 million a year, and he's off to a hot start but the Bulls are suddenly freezing cold. James Harden got a two-year extension but the Clippers look brutal. If Ryan Rollins is actually this good, then his 3-year, $12 million deal would be the clear and obvious steal of the summer. But we shouldn't stamp him a star quite yet.
Thus, when you combine team situation, production, and cost, I think Jrue Holiday might still be the best deal of the offseason.
Holiday makes the Blazers considerably better. Plus, Anfernee Simons was already going to be on the books for the Blazers this season, so Holiday's cap hit doesn't feel nearly as impactful. Swapping a player who would have gone elsewhere next offseason for a player who fits with this roster much better is the definition of a steal.
Joe Cronin turned Simons, whose time in Portland was winding down anyway, into Holiday, who will be a perfect (and highly important) backcourt piece for the next few years. That's the definition of a "steal."