Jrue Holiday’s second stint with the Portland Trail Blazers may end up being just as short as his first one.
The veteran guard Holiday is “pissed” about the trade this week sending him from the Boston Celtics to the Blazers, Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com reported on Tuesday. Bulpett adds that Holiday “does not want to go there” and that he “want[s] to be somewhere else” instead.
Holiday, a two-time NBA All-Star, just won the NBA championship with the Celtics in 2024. But now he is en route to a rebuilding Portland team after the two sides agreed on a trade Monday that sent multiple assets to Boston in exchange for Holiday.
This now marks the second time that Holiday has been sent to the Blazers in a trade. He was originally traded to Portland in 2023 as part of the Damian Lillard blockbuster with the Milwaukee Bucks. But Holiday lasted just a few days with the Blazers before being rerouted to the Celtics in exchange for a package headlined by Robert Williams III and Malcolm Brogdon.
Holiday is 35 years old now and may not want to waste away the final years of his career on a non-contender. The Blazers did show significant improvement this season by going 36-46 (after going an awful 21-61 in 2023-24). But it is very unlikely that they will morph into a true contender in an extremely difficult Western Conference.
A six-time All-Defensive selection, Holiday can still provide a key contribution as a 3-and-D role player. While the three years and $102 million still left on Holiday’s contract may complicate matters, several playoff teams (possibly including some who were eyeing him in the past) would salivate at the chance to trade for Holiday if he does not want to be in Portland.
