Jrue Holiday is a logical offseason trade candidate for the tax-strapped Celtics, and at least one team reportedly has interest in acquiring the veteran guard.
NBA insider Marc Stein listed the Dallas Mavericks as a potential suitor for Holiday, who turns 35 this summer and has three years remaining on his contract with Boston.
“League sources say Dallas is expected to at least explore whether there are any feasible trade pathways to Boston’s Jrue Holiday — complicated as that would likely be given the three years and $104 million still left on Holiday’s contract,” Stein wrote in his The Stein Line Substack.
Holiday’s stats declined this season — his 11.1 points and 3.9 assists per game were his lowest marks since his rookie year, and his 3-point shooting numbers dropped precipitously — and he missed 23 games with injuries, including three in the playoffs. But he’s still a valuable and highly respected player, especially on the defensive end.
He’d be a sensible target for Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison, who repeatedly used the line “Defense wins championships” to justify his widely panned decision to trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Dallas also needs a starting point guard in the short term with Kyrie Irving working his way back from a torn ACL. A team in win-now mode, as the Mavericks are, could do a lot worse than a core of Anthony Davis, soon-to-be No. 1 overall draft pick Cooper Flagg, third-year center Dereck Lively, Holiday and, once he’s healthy, Irving.
But, as Stein noted, the financial element could make a Holiday deal tricky to pull off.
The Mavs don’t have as much money committed to their 2025-26 roster as the Celtics — who are on track to have the most expensive group in NBA history between salaries and luxury tax penalties — but they aren’t too far behind, with Flagg’s projected $13.8 million salary and Irving’s yet-to-be-exercised $44 million player option pushing Dallas’ payroll to roughly $205 million.
Holiday, who signed a contract extension late last season, is set to earn $32.4 million in 2025-26 and $34.8 million in 2026-27, then has a $37.2 million player option for 2027-28, his age-37 season. The Celtics’ primary motivation for trading him would be monetary relief, as they need to shed at least $20 million in salary this offseason if they hope to dip below the second apron of the luxury tax and no longer be subject to the harsh roster-building restrictions that accompany that status.
So, Boston likely wouldn’t be interested in taking back players whose combined salaries equal Holiday’s unless it’s confident it can flip those players in subsequent trades. The Celtics and Mavericks also could involve a third team in their initial deal.
Mavs players who could be included in a theoretical Holiday trade include center Daniel Gafford and wings P.J. Washington and Caleb Martin. Gafford and Martin both are on expiring contracts and are set to earn $14.4 million and $14.2 million next season, respectively. Martin, a Celtics killer during his previous stints with Miami and Philadelphia, is on the books for $9.6 million next season and is signed through 2027-28, including a player option.
For his part, Holiday said he hopes to return to the Celtics this fall. He still views the 2024 NBA champions as a contender even after they lost superstar Jayson Tatum to a ruptured Achilles that could wipe out most or all of his 2025-26 campaign.
“I think we still have a really, really great opportunity and a great window to win a championship again,” Holiday said after the Celtics were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs earlier this month. “I think the talent that we have on this team, not only on the court, but the coaching staff, all the way up to Brad (Stevens), has been amazing. So the opportunity to win is now, and I still want to be a part of that.”
Center Kristaps Porzingis and bench sharpshooter Sam Hauser also are among the Celtics’ likeliest trade candidates, though it remains unclear how Stevens, Boston’s president of basketball operations, plans to approach this offseason. Seven of the Celtics’ nine core rotation players are under contract for next season, with only Al Horford and Luke Kornet set to hit free agency, but departures are expected given the team’s perilous luxury tax situation.
“I think the way that you say it is the North Star is to have a championship contender, right?” Stevens said in his end-of-season news conference. “And so you have to do what’s best to give yourself the best opportunity to do that when you can do that. So we just have to look at it all and decide how feasible that is on any given year and make sure that we’re making the decisions accordingly.
“But the reality is that we have a lot of good players. We’re in a unique situation. They’re all under contract, and obviously there are several basketball penalties that come with that amount of salary. So we just have to weigh it all and make those decisions, and I’ll have more clarity after we meet and talk and go through it.”
Originally Published: May 27, 2025 at 10:57 AM EDT