The Portland Trail Blazers had competition on the trade market for veteran guard Jrue Holiday, according to NBA insider Jake Fischer of the Stein Line.
During an appearance on CLNS’ “The Garden Report” with reporter Bobby Manning on Tuesday, Fischer said that the Toronto Raptors offered the Boston Celtics the No. 9 overall pick in last month’s draft and forward RJ Barrett for Holiday. However, the Celtics liked Portland’s offer of Anfernee Simons more due to their financial situation.
NBA insider Jake
ADFischer, from the Stein Line Substack, joined The Garden Report this week and reported that the Toronto Raptors floated the No. 9 overall pick in last month’s draft for White. They even grew aggressive enough to offer the ninth pick for Jrue Holiday, Fischer believed, but wanted to offload RJ Barrett’s contract in a potential deal. Given their luxury tax, apron and long-term flexibility concerns, Barrett’s two-year, $57.3 million deal proved too rich and the Celtics traded Holiday for Anfernee Simons’ $27.7 million expiring.
The conversation on “The Garden Report” shifted briefly to the topic of Holiday’s future with the Trail Blazers. Fischer said both Holiday and the Blazers are happy about their new partnership. In what would quickly amount to foreshadowing of the seismic Blazers news that would drop just two days later, Fischer also provided this nugget involving Trail Blazers’ all-time leading scorer Damian Lillard:
“I know Dame reached out to Jrue and talked well about Portland as a franchise and a city, so I think all is trending in a positive direction, no matter what the medical situation was.”
The Blazers’ trade package for Holiday initially included two outgoing future second-round picks. After a review of Holiday’s medicals, the trade was later altered to a one-for-one swap of Holiday for Simons. Holiday, 35, is set to make $32.4 million next year, $34.8 million in 2026-27, and $37.2 million on a player option in 2027-28.
The Raptors ended up keeping and using their No. 9 overall pick to select forward Collin Murray-Boyles out of South Carolina. Barrett, 25, averaged 21.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game in 58 outings for the Raptors this past season. He shot 46.8% from the field, 35% on 3s and 63% from the free throw line.
You can listen to the full discussion here.
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