Trail Blazers' reported price for Jrue Holiday begins at 2 first rounders, suitors expected to offer more for 2021 champion
With the Milwaukee Bucks' acquisition of Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday was moved to the Portland Trail Blazers, with the possibility of being moved again. Moreover, a number of teams are sure to be looking for a way to acquire the 2021 NBA champion to bolster their respective rosters.
The Athletic's Jared Weiss talked about what the asking price would look like for teams that are interested in acquiring Jrue Holiday.
"The price for Holiday likely starts at two first-round picks," Weiss said, "but several teams in the mix have the means and motivation to go beyond that."
Weiss mentioned that besides the asking price of two first-round picks, there are other teams involved in the trade conversations who are reportedly willing to include more than just those picks.
This is in consideration of the kind of player that they will be acquiring. Jrue Holiday was acquired by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2020 to be an important championship piece to the team's roster.
In the three seasons that Holiday played for the Bucks, he averaged 18.5 points per game (49.4% shooting, including 39.5% from 3-point range), 6.8 assists and 4.7 rebounds.
During his first season with the Bucks, he was a critical factor in the team winning the NBA championship in the 2021 NBA Finals. During the finals against the Phoenix Suns, Jrue Holiday averaged 16.7 ppg (36.1% shooting, including 31.4% from 3-point range), 9.3 apg and 6.2 rpg.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was reportedly not given a heads-up prior to the Jrue Holiday trade
It is yet to be determined if Jrue Holiday will remain in Portland or be traded to a different team for the upcoming season.
Be that as it may, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski mentioned on ESPN's "NBA on ESPN," that Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was not notified about Holiday being included in the Lillard trade package.
"Directly, he played no role," Wojnarowski said. "In fact, Jon Horst, Milwaukee's GM, he did not bring this trade idea or sign off on it to Giannis Antetokounmpo because Jrue Holiday was involved, and the relationship there, the reverence this organization and these players have for Holiday.
"He did not want to put that to Giannis Antetokounmpo and have him have that on his conscious necessarily, that he might sign off or not sign off on it."
According to Wojnarowski, the Bucks management wanted to make sure that the acquisition of seven-time all-star Damian Lillard was a success.
With that said, the Milwaukee Bucks certainly improved their roster from an offensive standpoint, along with their chances to go on a deep playoff run. With the intimidating one-two punch tandem of Antetokounmpo and Lillard, it was a move that the Bucks front office felt that it had to get done.