In a piece written by Marc J. Spears of Andscape, new Portland Trail Blazers guard Jrue Holiday shared about his excitement to be on the Blazers, and his fit as part of the offense on a younger team:
“Everyone
was just talking about it. Nobody was really asking me about the trade,” Holiday told Andscape after Portland’s preseason loss to the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 8. “Everyone was assuming I was miserable or unhappy with it. But when I got the call from [Celtics president] Brad [Stevens], I was super excited… Being able to see the roster, the type of players, and the character that they have, going to a team like that means a lot. Young or veteran team, I know that a team with good character guys will always be a good situation.”
“I expect to be a little more of a role [offensively in Portland],” Holiday said. “Handle the ball a little bit more. Get people into actions. Maybe [I’ll be] more part of the offense here.”
Especially with Scoot Henderson being sidelined by injury for the beginning of the season, Holiday will have plenty of opportunities to run the offense on a young Portland team projected to struggling on that side of the ball this season.
Spears also wrote that Holiday is grateful to be a little closer to home than he had been on other teams before landing in Portland:
Another big reason Holiday is ecstatic to be in Portland is that it’s by far the closest he has ever played to his hometown of Los Angeles in his 16-year NBA career. The former UCLA star previously played for Philadelphia, New Orleans, Milwaukee and Boston, but hasn’t played in the Western Conference since 2020. Holiday, his wife Lauren, daughter J.T., and son Hendrix live in their home on 10 acres in the Santa Rosa Valley in the offseason. It’s about 40 miles west of Burbank Airport in Los Angeles County. Jrue Holiday’s parents live in Los Angeles, and he also has several family members in the Los Angeles area and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Holiday said his wife and children took the short flight from Portland to Burbank last weekend to spend time in their offseason home. Such a quick trip home would have been difficult to do in Jrue’s previous stops. Two of Holiday’s cousins — Santa Rosa College assistant men’s basketball coach Maurice Thompson and Virgil Thompson — attended his Blazers-Warriors preseason game.
“It’s a good situation for me and my family. And this team has been great for me.”
Holiday came to the Blazers in June in a 1:1 trade for guard Anfernee Simons, and averaged 11.1 points, 4.3 boards, 3.9 assists, and 1.1 steals in 30.6 minutes a game over 62 games for the Boston Celtics last year.
