Over 24 hours after Game 7, NBA trades are already in full throttle.
Today, the Portland Trailblazers made a move to acquire two-time NBA Champion Jrue Holiday from the Boston Celtics. The news just so happened to remind me of a veteran acquisition by the Denver Nuggets, early on in Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets tenure, Paul Millsap.
Paul Millsap signing
Coming off the 2016-2017 season, the Denver Nuggets had won 40 games and had a trio of young talent in Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Gary Harris. The Nuggets went into the offseason with a serious intention of making a splash, and they pulled off one of the biggest Free-Agent deals in franchise history. Paul Millsap, anyone?
Millisap started as a defensive anchor and a mature, established Veteran star for Nikola Jokic to learn from, and evolved into a mini version of what Udonis Haslem was for the Heat after he aged. He was perfect for Denver’s culture and helped turn the Nuggets from an unsure group of puppies into a respected team of the future in the West.
Even though Millsap wasn’t on the roster that won Denver a championship, he deserves a massive amount of credit for everything he did to help Denver become a contender.
Will Jrue Holiday do the same for the Trailblazers?
While Millsap to Denver and Holiday to Portland aren’t the same, there are similarities.
Jrue Holiday to Portland feels a little Paul Millsap to Denver-esque.
(Yes. I know the 2016-2017 Nuggets were better than Portland this year.)
— Adam Brubaker (@adamjbrubaker) June 24, 2025
Both were aging, talented, defensive-minded stars who were coming off 60-plus win teams. And both guys arrived at young, hungry, talented teams who came off strong to end their year.
All that to say, thank you, Mr. Millsap. If Jrue Holiday helps Portland sneak into the play-in next year, the actual Nuggets fans (who existed before 2017 *cough* "bandwagons!" *cough* half of Nuggets twitter *cough*) will smile, and silently think of the best free-agent signing in Nuggets' history.