The Portland Trail Blazers aren't buying out Jrue Holiday before the season. They value his two-way impact, versatility, and championship experience, believing it will help resolve Portland's backcourt logjam rather than make things worse.
That said, the Ja Morant trade, paired with Damian Lillard's return, has to make Holiday more expendable in Portland.
The Blazers won the Jrue Holiday-Anfernee Simons swap with the Celtics. After the strong season Holiday had in Portland, it was easy to see why the Blazers reacquired him from the Celtics with the intention of keeping him this time around.
Holiday has raised ceilings for every franchise he's spent time with, and to a lesser extent that was the case for Portland in Year 1 as well. It's no surprise that their playoff drought ending coincided with his arrival.
Holiday has already proven his value, finishing the season averaging 16.3 points, 6.1 assists, and 4.6 6.1 rebounds per game. That vindicated the Blazers for the Simons deal that was once-controversial because of how much money Portland was taking back in Holiday's contract after an injury-plagued and relatively down year with the Celtics.
Why Portland should still consider trading Jrue Holiday
The Blazers have successfully boosted his value, and selling high could make sense after the offseason they just had.
Portland took that buy-low approach to another level this summer under new owner Tom Dundon. He continued his roster-building approach with the Carolina Hurricanes that just resulted in a Stanley Cup trophy to land Ja Morant as the first official splash with the Blazers.
Now first-year head coach Micah Nori has to get this team consecutive playoff appearances while navigating a backcourt of Morant, Lillard, Holiday, Scoot Henderson, and Shaedon Sharpe -- all while Deni Avdija is supposed to be initiating the offense?
Eventually something has to give in this backcourt, if not only to renegotiate and extend Avdija. Lillard has a rare no-trade clause and wouldn't be traded anyway for other reasons, so one has to assume that leaves at least one of Morant, Holiday, Henderson, or Sharpe potentially on the move.
Holiday may be the cleanest fit, but in the process of proving his value, he's also made a case be traded. He's 36 years old, and Portland may as well maximize trade value while they can, considering he's not the piece between the playoffs and a championship like he was in Milwaukee and Boston.
Holiday was great last season, but now Portland has another on-court veteran to mentor them in the backcourt with Lillard, who is also far cheaper.
Now it's time to hopefully raise the value of their next incoming guard, Morant. It's also a pivotal season for Sharpe and Henderson, whose futures in Portland are legitimately in question after suddenly finding themselves buried on the depth chart.
The Blazers need to see whether Morant, Sharpe, or Henderson are the true successors to the Lillard era. Holiday, despite his versatility, could be getting in the way of that much-needed backcourt evaluation this season. Considering his trade value has likely improved, it could be in the Blazers' best interest to make Holiday one of the next dominoes to fall.
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