There’s been incessant chatter about the Portland Trail Blazers possibly buying out Jrue Holiday’s contract, paving the way for the two-time NBA champion to reunite with the Philadelphia 76ers, the team that drafted him in 2009.
The rumors have grown so loud that ESPN’s Dave McMenamin accidentally reposted a post from Fake Shams Charania, who “reported” Monday that the Trail Blazers and Holiday had agreed to a contract buyout, and that the six-time All-Defensive star plans to join LeBron James and the Sixers on a veteran minimum contract.
Furthermore, new Sixer Jaylen Brown recently liked a post suggesting that the Sixers were interested in adding Holiday. Brown and Holiday won a championship together for the Boston Celtics in 2024.
76ers, Jrue Holiday Reunion on Hold?
Unfortunately for Sixers fans, a reunion with Holiday doesn’t seem feasible.
According to insider Marc Stein, the Trail Blazers have no intention of buying out Holiday’s contract despite their logjam at the point guard position.
“League sources say Portland is not about to just usher Holiday onto the open market,” Stein wrote in his “Stein Line” substack on Monday.
“The Blazers have been messaging for some time that they would like to keep Holiday, even after trading for Ja Morant and with Damian Lillard poised to make a comeback after losing a full season to an Achilles tear,” he added.
The talk of a Blazers-Holiday reunion picked up steam after Kentavious Caldwell-Pope agreed to a buyout with the Memphis Grizzlies before signing with the Sixers.
Trail Blazers Have Guards Galore
Several analysts had estimated that the Blazers could either trade Holiday or buy him out — to reduce their logjam at the point guard spot. Besides Damian Lillard, the Sixers have Jrue Holiday, Ja Morant and rising star Scott Henderson on the roster, creating a complex situation for new head coach Micah Nori.
Henderson, who shone in his first career playoff run last season, seems poised to have a breakout year after a relatively slow start to his career. The former No.3 overall pick averaged a career-high 14.2 points and 3.7 assists last year, but at mediocre shooting splits of 41/35/84. In the playoffs, however, he shot an impressive 46% from three while averaging 15.0 points in the five-game series against the San Antonio Spurs.
If Henderson is inserted into the starting unit, Nori may make the drastic call of bringing either Holiday or Lillard off the bench. For what it’s worth, Henderson started only 20 combined games in his last two seasons after starting 32 games as a rookie.
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