Jazz Reportedly Had Interest in Jrue Holiday Before Celtics Trade
Right before we entered the 2023-24 NBA campaign, the league faced an earthquake of a blockbuster trade, sending superstar guard Damian Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Milwaukee Bucks. It sent a whirlwind of assets from one place to the next, but one piece of the deal that stuck out was 2x All-Star Jrue Holiday.
After the Bucks sent off Holiday to Portland to get the services of Lillard, questions began to surface surrouning the next steps of where Jrue would play his fifteenth NBA season. Considering the Trail Blazers' abundance of guards and youth on the roster, it did not make a ton of sense to keep him on the team for a long period.
Before we ultimately saw him get sent to the Boston Celtics, a few other franchises got thrown into the mix as a potential destination. We saw teams like the Los Angeles Clippers and the New York Knicks get involved in rumors at the time, it seems the Utah Jazz may have taken part in these discussions as well.
Per a report from Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune, it appears the Jazz were one of the many teams having an interest in Holiday. However, talks fell through once discovered his tenure in Utah would not last longer than this season:
"In the preseason, the team was interested in trading for 33-year-old Jrue Holiday — before Holiday’s feedback that he wouldn’t be interested in extending his contract with the Jazz scuttled talks. That move would have given the team a lift in the short term while also helping the Jazz’s young guards develop. It was a move the Jazz were willing and excited to make if it had come at the right price."
The 33-year-old guard has a year remaining on his deal worth $36 million, with a player option attached to next summer for around $39 million. Without any clearance on the long-term aspects of a potential acquisition, they were talks Utah inevitably bowed out of.
Instead, Holiday found his way onto the current one-seeded Celtics in the East, where he’s now averaging 12.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.8 assists on 44.2/39.2/82.8 shooting splits.
Other reports surfaced recently of the Jazz searching for a veteran guard to potentially add to their roster, which lines up with what a player like Holiday provides. While he does fit the mold, this move failed to make enough sense to look into further.
Just under two months remain until the trade deadline approaches, so Utah still has an abundance of time to act on a move later if they desire. With a CEO like Danny Ainge in charge, seeing a trade or two get done before February’s buzzer would be far from shocking.
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