After months of negotiations, the Portland Trail Blazers have pulled off a massive blockbuster three-way trade with the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns, sending out Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson to get Jrue Holiday, DeAndre Ayton, Toumani Camara, a 2029 unprotected first-round pick (via Milwaukee) and the right to swap picks in 2028 and 2030 in return.
One of the newest members of the Blazers organization shouldn’t unpack just yet, however, as the Blazers would be wise to flip and re-trade Jrue Holiday to a contender for youth and draft picks, maximizing the return for Lillard and starting a rebuild in earnest as opposed to keeping an unhappy 33-year-old point guard on the roster yet again.
Here are the three main reasons the Blazers should trade Jrue Holiday after the Bucks/Suns/Blazers blockbuster deal:
1. Jrue Holiday can start a bidding war
It’s a little odd to see the Blazers trade their 33-year-old point guard in Damian Lillard just to get…another 33-year-old star point guard in Jrue Holiday. But the reality of the situation for Portland was that trading Lillard to a contender for youth and valuable picks was always going to be a difficult proposition and that acquiring someone to re-trade was a more realistic path. Holiday is going to be much more attractive on the trade market than, say, Tyler Herro, because his contract isn’t oppressive (Holiday has a player option for 2024-25) and his defense-first mentality can fit in with just about any title contender.
Holiday, as we’ve seen, is the perfect third option on a title team as someone who can score but isn’t necessarily relied on for that. His ability to provide value both on and off the ball is perfect for a team in need of help in the backcourt but not wanting to fork over all the possessions that a score-first type guard necessitates.
Holiday’s short contract should be easier for teams to acquire than Lillard’s, and while he’s not on the same star level as Dame, Holiday can still start a bidding war on the trade market for teams in win-now mode. The Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Los Angeles Clippers, and Los Angeles Lakers all make sense as potential trading partners for the Blazers, who can continue to re-flip pieces from subsequent trades to get the draft pick and young player haul that was going to be difficult to get in a singular trade with a contender.
