The Philadelphia 76ers have undoubtedly become one of the hottest teams in the NBA after adding both LeBron James and Jaylen Brown to an already-packed roster that boasted of Joel Embiid, VJ Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey. However, recent reports have claimed that they are not done even after adding Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to their rotation, with Philadelphia understood to be interested in buying out Jrue Holiday from the Portland Trail Blazers.
However, Marc Stein of The Stein Line has now claimed that this assumption may be ‘erroneous,’ reporting that the Blazers intend to keep Holiday even after moving for Ja Morant, with Damian Lillard expected to make a comeback in the coming season. Hence, even though a potential move for Holiday would give the 76ers another All-Star calibre player and arguably a ‘complete’ roster, it does not appear to be on the cards.
“Recent speculation about a Jrue Holiday buyout from the Trail Blazers is erroneous. It has become a popular online pastime to suggest that such an arrangement is percolating that helps route Holiday back to the team that drafted him — which obviously fancies itself as a superteam now after the Sixers acquired Brown and James — but league sources say Portland is not about to just usher Holiday onto the open market,” Stein wrote.
The two-time NBA Champion was earlier reported to have agreed to a buyout with the Blazers with an intention to sign for Philadelphia, the team that first drafted him into the NBA before he joined the New Orleans Pelicans. Holiday was also part of the 2024 Boston Celtics roster that won the championship with Jaylen Brown. Of course, any Philadelphia move would also have been fraught with financial complications, in addition to Portland having no intention of losing the 36-year-old.
The 76ers had moved Dalen Terry to make space for LeBron and traded Johni Broome to integrate KCP. However, any move for Holiday would have resulted in them moving over the first apron, which means further roster adjustments would have been required to add him.
Still, it would have given the 76ers a true defensive stalwart to deploy in an otherwise offensively-stacked lineup.
The Philadelphia 76ers have undoubtedly become one of the hottest teams in the NBA after adding both LeBron James and Jaylen Brown to an already-packed roster that boasted of Joel Embiid, VJ Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey.