Jrue Holiday could be headed for another change of scenery this offseason, according to reporting from Jake Fischer, and the potential fit keeps pointing back to a familiar problem for the Phoenix Suns: they already have too many guards. Holiday, who was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers last year from the Boston Celtics, is owed $72 million over the next two seasons and will carry a player option in the final year.
Any move for Holiday would be expensive, too. He is making just under $35 million this season, and the only realistic trade paths would be Jalen Green in a one-for-one deal or a package built around Royce O'Neale and Grayson Allen. For Portland, that kind of talk lands at a time when the team exceeded expectations by beating Phoenix in the Play-In tournament, Scoot Henderson emerged in the first round of the playoffs and Damian Lillard is gearing up to return.
The Trail Blazers also have a clear basketball reason to listen. Portland finished 28th in three-point percentage last season at 34.3% and ranked last in the NBA in bench three-point shooting at 32.0%, a weakness that makes a veteran guard with Holiday’s defensive profile and playoff experience more attractive than his age might suggest. He will be 36 going into next year, which is exactly the kind of detail that could complicate a deal even for a team looking to reshape its backcourt.
The Suns, meanwhile, would have to solve a problem as much as add a player. Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin want to resign with the Suns, and a Holiday trade would deepen the crowd in a guard room that already looks full. That is why the idea is still more likely to stay in the rumor stage than become a clean offseason answer, even with Holiday’s name circulating again.
For now, the story is less about whether Holiday still matters and more about which team is willing to live with the cost. Portland has the shooting need, Phoenix has the roster logjam, and Holiday has the contract that makes every possibility feel heavier than the last.