Jrue Holiday apparently hopes for another quick stay in Portland.
The ex-Celtic is “pissed” he’s with the Trail Blazers after Boston moved him in a cost-cutting maneuver, longtime Celtics reporter Steve Bulpett wrote Tuesday for Heavy.com.
Holiday previously spent four days as a Trail Blazer after being traded by the Bucks and then acquired by the Celtics in 2023.
“Now, if he winds up staying there, I’m sure he’ll be the professional he’s always been and make a positive contribution,” a source told Bulpett. “But he’s not happy with this deal. I’ll be surprised if Portland doesn’t move him on if they can, because right now, he does not want to go there.
“I’m sure if he has to go to Portland, he’ll end up going and it’ll be OK, but right now they want to be somewhere else. But with that contract, it’s not going to be that easy.”
Holiday, 35, played a pivotal role in the Celtics winning the 2024 championship, but Boston is retooling after being a second apron luxury tax team, and also facing the realistic possibility that star Jayson Tatum will miss the entire season after tearing his Achilles in the second-round playoff series loss to the Knicks.
Boston thus kicked off its moves by sending the respected veteran to Portland, where he figures to bring needed experience and defense to a young team hoping to become a Western Conference contender.
It’s understandable, though, that Holiday would allegedly be upset since he’ll be 36 years old next season and surely would prefer to be on a sure-fire contender with his career winding down.
Holiday has won two titles in the last five years, one each with the Celtics and Bucks, and is entering his 17th season in the league. The Trail Blazers, should he remain, will be his fifth team.
Portland, even if it takes the next step, is a long shot to come out of a loaded Western Conference, which includes the reigning champion Thunder, a Rockets team now employing Kevin Durant, the Nikola Jokic-led Nuggets and the expected Lakers tandem of LeBron James and Luka Doncic.
It’s certainly possible the Trail Blazers could once redirect Holiday to a contender, just like in 2023 when they acquired him from the Bucks in the Damian Lillard trade, and then sent the point guard to the Celtics in exchange for two players and two first-round selections.
The Celtics followed their Holiday trade by sending Kristaps Porzingis to Atlanta in a three-way deal, and there is plenty of interest in Jaylen Brown and Derrick White.
Sam Hauser and Anfernee Simons, acquired in the Holiday deal, could also be moved, per ESPN.