MILWAUKEE — Jrue Holiday enjoyed another return to Milwaukee – where he spent three seasons and won a championship – on Tuesday, but after another loss to the Bucks, the Celtics guard made clear where his new loyalty is.
“I get to see a lot of people that I enjoy seeing and I love seeing, but I do want to beat them, so when I walk out I can talk (expletive),” Holiday said.
A day later, he made an even bigger commitment to his new home.
Holiday and the Celtics have agreed on a four-year, $135 million extension that will keep the dynamic guard in Boston through the 2027-28 season, according to multiple reports on Wednesday. The 33-year-old Holiday will reportedly decline the $37.3 million player option he had for next season to make the deal, which will save the Celtics several million dollars on the cap next season. The final year of Holiday’s extension will be a player option, according to the Globe.
Holiday arrived in Boston on the eve of training camp after being traded from the Bucks to the Blazers and then to the Celtics in the fallout of the Damian Lillard deal. Brad Stevens had long coveted the All-Defensive guard, and he’s been a perfect fit for the Celtics, who clinched the best record in the NBA and remain the favorites to win the championship. Holiday has sacrificed his scoring but is shooting a career-best 43.1 percent from 3-point land and has maintained his strong defense as a key fixture of Boston’s No. 3-rated defense.
Holiday couldn’t sign an extension longer than two years until April 1, and he and his agent Jason Gloushon didn’t waste much time in doing so.
Holiday will reportedly make $30 million in the first season of his extension, which will save the Celtics about $35 million in luxury tax penalties.
The extension means the Celtics will retain even more of their talented and expensive core for multiple seasons. Kristaps Porzingis (signed through 2026) and Jaylen Brown (signed through 2029) both agreed to extensions last summer and Jayson Tatum is set to sign a supermax extension this summer.
