It's become difficult to ignore the possibility that Boston Celtics star Jrue Holiday will be playing for the Dallas Mavericks in 2025-26. Holiday has been at the heart of trade speculation since long before the Celtics' 2024-25 season came to a close, but recent reports have transformed the conversation.
LA Clippers insider Law Murray of The Athletic has refuted the report that Holiday could be playing home games in Inglewood, thus opening the door for Dallas to emerge as a frontrunner.
Trimming the list by one championship hopeful may not seem noteworthy, but Holiday will soon turn 35 and has three years and $104.4 million remaining on his contract. As such, his list of suitors will likely consist of teams that are one player away from contending—and Dallas seems to believe it's in said position.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein of The Stein Line, the Mavericks will explore the opportunity to trade for Holiday during the 2025 offseason.
"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 — while also maintaining an interest in a far more reasonable trade target as we've discussed on the DLLS Mavs podcast: Lonzo Ball."
With the Clippers seemingly less interested than advertised, and Holiday fitting the Mavericks' identity and timeline, it's hard to envision a more likely scenario than Dallas making a move.
Clippers insider refutes Jrue Holiday interest, opening door for Mavericks
Nico Harrison made a mountain of headlines during the 2024-25 season when he traded Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis. Much has been said about the controversial decision, but Harrison defended the trade with a simple sentence: "Defense wins championships."
If that truly is the case, then there's no team more likely to get involved in potential Holiday trade talks than the Mavericks.
Holiday is a six-time All-Defense honoree who has made a career out of locking down some of the best scorers in the Association. He's also a proven commodity on offense, possessing the ability to swing postseason and even NBA Finals games in his team's favor with invaluably clutch contributions.
Examples include Holiday posting 27 points and 13 rebounds to give the Milwaukee Bucks a 3-2 series lead in the 2021 NBA Finals, and dropping 26 points and 11 boards for Boston in Game 2 in 2024.
That championship experience is one of the biggest reasons to believe the Mavericks will look to acquire Holiday. If they pull it off, all three of their star players will have already won a title before joining forces: Kyrie Irving in 2016, Davis in 2020, and Holiday in 2021 and 2024.
Considering Davis is 32 and Irving is 33, it's also safe to view Holiday as a player who fits the expedited timeline along which Dallas is operating.
What are the logistics of a Boston-Dallas trade? Eric Pincus has an idea
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report recently proposed a three-team trade that would send Holiday to Dallas and Kristaps Porzingis to the Brooklyn Nets. Boston would thus offload two of its biggest contracts and gain invaluable assets in return.
Pincus proposed Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington as the key players coming to Boston, adding that the Celtics would create four trade exceptions—including $32.4 million for Holiday.
Pincus' proposal by no means guarantees that it will transpire, but this is the most logical step forward for Boston and Dallas. The Mavericks would bring in a two-time NBA champion to pair with Davis and Irving, while the Celtics could hit the reset-while-still-competing button.
Boston would lose two key players, but it would also revamp its starting lineup with Gafford and Washington, who are less than a year removed from playing against them in the 2024 NBA Finals.
Furthermore, Gafford and Washington would be playing on expiring contracts worth less than $14.4 million apiece. That offers Boston incredible flexibility to either continue building with that proven interior duo or hit the financial reset button as soon as 2026.
Tatum's injury has created a world of uncertainty in Boston, but there's ample reason to believe that Holiday to the Mavericks is a likely offseason result.