When the Portland Trail Blazers traded for Jrue Holiday, and the $104 million remaining on his contract that is on the books through his age-37 season, few people regarded it as anything more than a very expensive mentorship for Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe.
But the Blazers saw it as something more. General manager Joe Cronin declared this year “winning time” and saw the Holiday acquisition as a means to that lofty end. He had done it before, after all. Holiday put Boston over the top. Ditto for Milwaukee.
Now here he is, doing it again in Portland.
Nobody is saying the Blazers are going to compete for, let alone win, a championship any time soon. But along with the 6-2 Bulls, they are the surprise story of the young season at 5-3 with wins over the Lakers, Warriors, Nuggets and Thunder. I had them at No. 5 in the latest Power Rankings and they have earned every inch of that recognition.
Holiday isn’t doing this alone. But that was the point. Portland already had good players comprising a top-five defense over the latter third of last season. Something, or someone, just had to put them over the top, relatively speaking. Holiday, thought to be on the decline after a down campaign with Boston last year, is doing that and more with his highest scoring output (17.6 PPG) since his last season with the Bucks and 7.6 assists, his best mark in over a half decade.
It’s arguable whether Holiday has been Portland’s best player so far. That honor probably belongs to Deni Avdija, who’s on an All-Star track. But this is Holiday’s team. The winning culture and confidence pulsating through Portland right now is no coincidence. Holiday brings that with him everywhere he goes. That and his defensive prowess, which is still elite, are like carry-on bags. But it’s been his scoring aggression and overall license to initiate offense that has made what became an increasingly peripheral role in Boston feel like a forgotten time.
With the Celtics, Holiday was support staff for Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. He spaced the floor. Played…
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