Portland Trail Blazers May Trade Jrue Holiday to Secure Long-Term Deal for Deni Avdija

The Portland Trail Blazers are preparing for the 2026/27 NBA season with hopes of advancing past the first playoff round for the first time since 2018/19. After appointing Mike Norrie as head coach and acquiring Ja Morant in a major trade, the team faces a key challenge: retaining Israeli star Deni Avdija long-term. Avdija, coming off a career-best season, holds a relatively affordable contract, earning $25 million over the next two years, but Portland needs to plan for his future beyond that.

Blazers reporter Rhys Konz suggests that trading veteran guard Jrue Holiday could be the solution to free up salary cap space and facilitate contract extension talks with Avdija. Although the team recently swapped Jeremy Grant's contract for Morant's, this did not resolve Avdija's contract situation. Konz notes that Portland has a crowded backcourt with four quality point guards, making Holiday a likely candidate for a trade despite the team's current intention to keep him due to his versatility.

Konz emphasizes that Portland is not actively shopping Holiday but remains open to trading him if it benefits the roster's flexibility. The acquisition of Morant provides the Blazers with more options to manage their guard rotation and assets like Scott Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe. The team could start the season with its full guard lineup and wait until the February trade deadline to make a final decision.

Ultimately, Portland must balance its immediate competitive goals with securing Avdija's future. Holiday's contract could be the key to unlocking the necessary cap space, and the Blazers will closely monitor developments as they continue building around their Israeli star.