Portland traded for Ja Morant and now has four point guards who all started somewhere last year. The Blazers say this is fine.
Despite the logjam, Portland has signaled to rival teams that it plans to keep Jrue Holiday. Jake Fischer reported the Blazers received several calls about Holiday after the Morant trade and told those teams he is not available at this time.
Count the Guards
Ja Morant. Damian Lillard. Scoot Henderson. Jrue Holiday. Four players who have run an NBA offense as the primary ball handler, on one roster, in a league with 48 minutes to distribute.
Portland’s stated solution is that Holiday can alleviate the redundancy by playing off the ball as a shooting guard or small forward. That is not a fantasy. Holiday has spent his whole career being the guard who makes things work without the ball, and he is one of the best defensive guards of his generation.
It is also a lot to ask of a 36-year-old who has already told the team what he wants.
Holiday Wants Out
This is the part Portland keeps skipping past. After the Blazers were eliminated by San Antonio, Holiday made clear he would prefer not to be back in Portland for 2026-27.
A veteran two-time champion who wants a different situation, on a team with three other players at his position, is not a rotation puzzle. It is a trade waiting for a front office to admit it.
Fischer noted the Blazers will field plenty of external interest in Holiday and that how the backcourt sorts out remains a mystery. Mystery is a generous word for it.
Why Portland Is Holding
There is a defensible reason to wait. Holiday’s contract runs two years and $72 million, and moving that salary requires a partner with cap room or matching money. Teams have more flexibility in-season than they do in September.
His value also goes up if he plays well in a reduced role. A contender looking for a defensive guard in January will pay more for a healthy, productive Holiday than for a September salary dump.
The Risk Is Real Though
Holiday is 36. Every month Portland waits is a month of injury risk on an aging body, and an unhappy veteran in a crowded rotation is not a great bet to stay healthy or produce.
Meanwhile Scoot Henderson needs minutes to develop, Morant needs the ball to be the player Portland traded for, and Lillard is the emotional center of the franchise. That is three claims on playing time before Holiday gets to the argument.
Portland should trade one of these guards, and Holiday is the one who asked. Insisting the math works does not make it work.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.