After a first season where all went well for Jrue Holiday in the Celtics uniform, the second act was a disappointment. His individual performances and collective impact went downhill from 2023–24 to 2024–25, and despite his best effort, he couldn’t replicate the footprint he had last year. That being said, what were the root causes behind this underperforming season? Looking back, there were both contextual reasons and individual causes.
A new treatment
Holiday this season had to deal with a new treatment from opposing defenses. Indeed, starting in December 2024 with the Memphis Grizzlies, teams began to consider Holiday a non-shooting threat and invited him to shoot from beyond the arc. Therefore, his 3-point volume kept growing, with 51% of his shot attempts coming from that area. However, the shooting efficiency dropped drastically. Even before he injured his finger, Holiday’s shooting accuracy was far below what he delivered the previous year, and opposing teams kept capitalizing on that.
The previous season, he was considered deadly from the corners, with 60% accuracy from there. This season, on a bigger volume, he made only 30% of his attempts from the corner during the regular season. While his real level is likely somewhere between these two marks, his inability to prove opposing defenses wrong cost the Celtics their spacing with him on the floor. In the 15 games the Celtics lost while he played, he shot 19% from beyond the arc on more than 5 attempts per game.
This shooting slump had an obvious offensive impact—but not only. The issue forced Joe Mazzulla and his coaching staff to give more clutch minutes and 4th-quarter responsibilities to Payton Pritchard. Offensively, it was a tremendous boost and a great alternative to deal with the Jrue shooting enigma. However, with Pritchard on the floor, the Celtics’ unbreakable defense became a bit more shaky. Teams usually go after the 6th Man of the Year—and despite his best effort and relentless work—he is still a 6’1” guard who can be targeted. The Celtics’ defensive rating was 110.2 points per 100 possessions with Jrue Holiday on the floor, 112.8 with Payton Pritchard instead. It’s still good, but not as elite.
While the shooting is concerning—but could bounce back, because that’s how variance works—what might be trickier to deal with is his inability to drive or create from the situations where opponents left him open. His driving, which I thought was back against the Magic, is actually gone for good. He wasn’t able to drive—neither against Jalen Brunson and the Knicks, nor when attacking the space defenses gave him. In his last season in Milwaukee, he drove more than 11 times per game. Last season, more than 6. This season, there were fewer than 5 drives per game. With the injuries piling up, maybe Holiday doesn’t have the juice to drive on a daily basis anymore.
Because of this new treatment, Jrue Holiday’s shooting instability and declining health were costly for the Celtics—and could also be problematic this summer when Brad Stevens offers him to other teams. Nonetheless, while the offense is puzzling, the defense remains elite, and he is still one of the most versatile players in the NBA.
Can he still help a team win?
Going into the offseason, that will be the question the other 29 general managers will be asking themselves when looking at Jrue Holiday’s 4-year, $134,400,000 contract. With the new CBA, Holiday’s deal accounts for around 20% of the league cap until 2027–28, when he will be 37 years old. Yet, despite the contract, the shooting enigma, and the injuries, Jrue Holiday could still be a positive player in a competitive environment thanks to his ability to do everything. He is a guard who can play either with or without the ball. He can screen, pass on the move, and play in the dunker spot when needed. He might actually be the best dunker-spot guard in the NBA.
Defensively, he can still take on the best opposing ball-handler, match up with a center, and play the quarterback in the middle of a zone defense. All these skill sets make him a valuable player in a winning environment. That’s probably why the Celtics should be able to trade him this offseason. But because of his contract and his age, the trade could cost the Celtics other assets from Brad Stevens to make the deal more appealing to the other team.
Photo by Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Notwithstanding this last season, the Jrue Holiday trade during the 2023 offseason will remain a success. He came and adapted perfectly to a new role. With him, the Celtics were able to finally reach the top and win the 18th. His contract extension, however, might be questionable—but this belongs to the past. Now, both the Boston Celtics and Jrue Holiday have to move forward, and this might be the end of a short, yet successful, partnership.
