Jrue Holiday Hopes Celtics Tenure Extends Beyond This Season

Starting in early April, Jrue Holiday can sign an extension with the Celtics. He did so with the Bucks in 2021 before helping them win the championship. It's a history he's hoping duplicates itself in Boston.

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Starting in early April, the Boston Celtics can ink Jrue Holiday to an extension, preventing the only member of their top six who can reach free agency this summer from doing so, as was their intention when they acquired him.

The two-time All-Star tacking more years onto his deal just before a playoff run is a familiar route to him. He signed a four-year, $135 million extension, plus bonuses that could elevate its value to $160 million, with the Milwaukee Bucks in April of 2021. That postseason, he helped the franchise capture its second championship.

And while Holiday has a $39.4 million player option for the 2024-25 campaign, he told Brian Robb of MassLive he'd prefer to reach an extension before the season ends.

"I'd like to be here," conveyed the California native. "I feel like I'm getting more and more comfortable. Loving the guys, loving the organization, and loving the city."

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Even if the two sides don't agree to an extension, Robb reports the former UCLA Bruin is likely to decline his player option in favor of long-term security.

Boston's one of five teams over the second apron this season, and its best path forward is the most costly. Jayson Tatum's in line for a supermax extension this summer that will join Jaylen Brown's on the books after the 2024-25 campaign. Derrick White's also due a new deal at that time.

From an on-court perspective, the alternatives to extending Holiday are far less appealing. However, it will result in well over $100 million in luxury tax penalties on top of a $200+ million payroll.

At Holiday's introductory press conference, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck stated, "I look at the next six years as a real opportunity for us." So, while the new collective bargaining agreement is more punitive, Boston's talking and spending like a franchise undeterred, unwilling to compromise Tatum and Brown's prime.

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Turning 34 in June, perhaps the 14-year veteran is willing to leave money on the table to help preserve the most talented top six in the NBA and stay in the location likely to afford him his best championship chances.

That's the route Kristaps Porzingis went when he agreed to a two-year, $60 million extension over the summer. The seven-foot-three center could've signed for up to $77 million.

Noting the value of continuity, with most members of the Celtics' top six taken care of, making it easier to sacrifice to maximize the group's potential, Holiday expressed, "I think everybody kind of knows we're set, and we're set for a long period," adding, "No matter what happens, you are going to come back here with the same guys for the most part. Things happen, but I think you lock into that, being able to have that comfortability and just kind of that pressure off of you about what's next."

The six-foot-four guard is also growing increasingly comfortable with all that's asked of him at both ends of the floor.

Defensively, his assignments range from getting asked to contain Julius Randle in the low post to wreaking havoc as a free safety who blows up drives before they collapse the defense, let alone get to the basket. He'll even operate in the middle of the Celtics' 2-3 zone defense.

As previously detailed, Boston's offense is at its best when Holiday's aggressive, an approach the coaching staff continues imploring him to maintain.

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He's averaging 13.1 points, his fewest since he was a rookie, and distributing 4.6 assists. His usage rate is also a career-low 17.2 percent. Still, the former 17th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft is knocking down 41.5 percent of his 4.9 three-point attempts. That's the highest conversion rate on the team, excluding Drew Peterson's being 1/1.

While it's understandable to want more out of Holiday offensively, he's quarterbacking their defense, helping maintain an up-tempo pace, and drilling threes at a high clip off the catch and off the dribble. He's also stepping up as a scorer when another starter is out, and it's needed most.

He's the individual his teammates have identified as the one sacrificing the most. And while Holiday agrees with that, he's also made it known, "I'm not mad at my situation. I'm not mad at the sacrifices that I have to make."

It exemplifies the selfless nature of a group Holiday hopes to remain a part of beyond this season.

Further Reading

Celtics Maturation Molded by Experience: 'It Builds, Like, an Armor'

Here's What Stood Out as Celtics Top Heat in One of Their Best Performances This Season

Celtics Finding Joy in Basketball and Each Other's Company: 'We've Been Blessed'

Fixated on Winning, Jayson Tatum Again Proves He's Not 'Bored Making the Right Play Over and Over'

Ime Udoka Assesses Tatum and Brown's Growth Since Coaching Them: 'A Lot of Potential That I Haven't Tapped Into'

Jrue Holiday Responds to Celtics Saying He's Sacrificing Most: 'Not Mad at My Situation'

Brad Stevens Shares What Celtics Are Looking to Add and How He Hopes to Do So

Derrick White Opens Up About Journey from Uncertainty He Belonged in the NBA to an All-Star Caliber Guard

Jaylen Brown Quieting Doubters, Validating What He Always Believed: 'Earn Everybody's Trust'

Joe Mazzulla Discusses Identity, Evolution of Celtics' Offense: 'Balance of Pace and Execution'

Jaylen Brown Shares His View of What Defines 'Celtics Basketball'