Could Jrue Holiday ultimately come back to Sixers in wake of Lillard trade?

Could Jrue Holiday ultimately come back to Sixers in wake of Lillard trade? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

For Sixers fans, any dreams of Damian Lillard are completely down the drain.

There’s now another excellent veteran point guard worth discussing, though.

After the Bucks’ trade Wednesday to land Lillard, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Trail Blazers were “expected to immediately engage contending teams on trade talks to move on Jrue Holiday.”

PHLY Sports’ Kyle Neubeck reported the Sixers are “interested in trying to acquire Holiday.” With all due respect to Danny Green, a second Holiday stint in Philadelphia would be a bigger deal than the veteran wing’s return.

Holiday has undoubtedly drawn ample interest. He’s fresh off his second All-Star honor — the first came a decade ago as a 22-year-old Sixer — and respected across the league for his well-rounded game. Holiday is a five-time All-Defensive selection who just averaged 19.3 points, 7.4 assists and 5.1 rebounds.

It’s hard to overstate his game-after-game defensive impact.

“We really were trying to run anything without Jrue Holiday involved down the stretch,” former Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said after a win last November over the Bucks. “We were just trying to get him away from the ball.”

What might be a sufficient Sixers package to acquire Holiday?

It’s a complicated question made even murkier by the unresolved messiness this summer with James Harden and the Sixers. At a minimum, though, we can assume there won’t be a deal that sends Harden to the Blazers. Portland is obviously focused on the future and building around young guards Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe, so any hypothetical trade that involves sending Harden there sounds ludicrous. The Sixers may very well need to loop multiple parties in on a trade.

The fact that Tobias Harris is about to enter the final season of his five-year, $180 million contract is notable here, too. Holiday will make a bit less than Harris this year (approximately $35 million). He has a player option of $37.4 million for the 2024-25 season.

Removing all the factors for front offices to figure out, Holiday seems like he’d help just about any good team. He is the epitome of a model teammate; Holiday has won the NBA’s Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award in three of the past four seasons.

On the Sixers in particular, it’s fascinating to picture Holiday alongside Tyrese Maxey. The soon-to-be fourth-year guard has aimed to apply many of Holiday’s best traits to his own game.

“When I grew to about 6-3, I started watching guys like CJ McCollum, the Jamal Murrays of the league, the Jrue Holidays,” Maxey said on the night the Sixers drafted him in 2020. “Just because the league has changed so much. These hybrid guards who are able to do so much — run a team, get their teammates involved, facilitate and score … and also being off the ball and able to score and do different things while not having the ball in their hands. I feel that’s something I take pride in, that’s something I’ll be able to do.

“And then I like to be competitive on the defensive end. Jrue Holiday I feel is a great defender and I think that’s where I get it from.”

Nick Nurse’s first training camp as Sixers head coach will commence next Tuesday at Colorado State University. Maxey is a very safe bet to attend.

We’ll wait and see which other guards the Sixers have in Fort Collins.