Phoenix Suns Acquire Former UCLA Guard Aaron Holiday From Washington Wizards

The NBA Trade Deadline saw one Bruin change jerseys, as Holiday made his way into the Western Conference in exchange for cash.

For the second time in the past year, one Bruin is on the move again.

Former UCLA men's basketball guard Aaron Holiday was traded from the Indiana Pacers to the Washington Wizards on draft night last summer, and now the Wizards are turning around and dealing him somewhere else after just 41 games. Holiday will now be heading to the Phoenix Suns, who gave the Wizards cash considerations in exchange for the combo guard.

Holiday was the No. 23 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, following his career year at UCLA in which he averaged 20.3 points and 5.8 assists per game on 42.9% 3-point shooting. The Suns had the No. 16 pick in that draft, but before they used it to trade up to No. 10 to take forward Mikal Bridges, their No. 1 overall selection DeAndre Ayton told the media he wanted to have a Pac-12 reunion with Holiday in the desert.

Arizona beat UCLA in the Pac-12 Tournament Semifinals that year, when Holiday played all 45 minutes of the overtime showdown shooting 5-of-20 while Ayton put up 32 points and 14 rebounds.

Four years later, the former Wildcat's request has come to fruition.

When Deandre Ayton was interviewed after he was picked #1 (and before the Suns traded for Mikal), he was asked who the Suns should pick at #16.

His response: “Aaron Holiday.” https://t.co/9YIJ8vkRG4

— Xin Varlock (@XinNBA) February 10, 2022

Since arriving in the Association, Holiday has averaged 7.4 points and 2.3 assists in 18.4 minutes per game, all while shooting 36.9% from deep.

During his opening three-year stint with the Pacers, Holiday peaked in 2019-2020 when he started half the 66 games he appeared in while putting up career highs in points, assists, rebounds, steals and 3-point shooting. Holiday was expected to play a bigger part once he arrived in Washington, but even with the injuries to Bradley Beal and Spencer Dinwiddie, he has only averaged 16.2 minutes per game.

Holiday's second-to-last game with the Wizards actually came against the Suns, and he put up 11 points, three assists and one steal on 5-of-10 shooting. Holiday's final appearance in a Washington uniform resulted in 14 points, four assists and three steals on 5-of-10 shooting versus the Miami Heat.

Before those two contests, though, Holiday was averaging just 15.5 minutes per game.

Holiday's playing time will probably dwindle further in Phoenix, considering they already have Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Cameron Payne and Elfrid Payton on the roster. The Suns currently hold the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and are one of the favorites to win the NBA Championships, though, meaning Holiday could join his brother Jrue in bringing home a ring in the near future.

Phoenix and Jrue's Milwaukee Bucks met in the NBA Finals a year ago, and the Bucks are currently 0.5 games back of the top seed in the Eastern Conference, potentially positioning the brothers to go head-to-head at the end of the postseason.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Russell Westbrook, another former UCLA guard, was not dealt on NBA Trade Deadline day, as some people had speculated. The Los Angeles Clippers made several moves, continuing to reshape their roster in a midseason retooling effort that started with them team acquiring former Bruin guard Norman Powell from the Portland Trailblazers on Feb. 4.

Of the 11 UCLA alumni in the NBA, seven are playing for Western Conference teams.

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