FEBRUARY 15: Holiday’s new contract with the Mavericks is official, the team announced (via Twitter).
FEBRUARY 13, 9:05pm: Holiday has officially been waived by the Rockets, according to the NBA transactions log.
FEBRUARY 13, 12:17pm: Veteran swingman Justin Holiday has reached a buyout agreement with the Rockets and intends to sign with the Mavericks after he clears waivers, sources tell Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
Marc Stein reported Sunday evening (via Twitter) that the Mavs would be interested in Holiday if he was bought out by Houston. Dallas was also reportedly interested in Terrence Ross, who plans to sign with the Suns after being bought out by Orlando. However, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, Holiday was the Mavs’ top potential buyout target (Twitter link).
Holiday, 34, was sent to Houston from Atlanta as part of a cost-cutting trade by the Hawks. Now in his 10th season, Holiday didn’t get much playing time with Atlanta in 2022/23, making 28 appearances while averaging 4.5 points in 14.7 minutes per game.
A report after the trade indicated that the Rockets were interested in keeping Holiday around, perhaps even beyond this season. Obviously that didn’t work out, with Holiday spotted having an extended conversation with coach Stephen Silas during Monday’s shootaround (Twitter link via Kelly Iko of The Athletic).
The Mavs dealt away Dorian Finney-Smith as part of the Kyrie Irving trade, so Holiday will provide some additional depth on the wing. Dallas technically has a full 15-man roster, but big man Chris Silva is only on a 10-day deal — if Dallas wants to sign Holiday before the All-Star break, Silva’s contract would likely be ended early to make room for the newcomer.
Doesn’t do much for me. How about you guys?
Depends. Can Justin play defense as well as Jrue?
Yes he can. Almost as good as finney-smith
Which sibling duo would you rather have on your team if you could have them for their entire career, Andrew (Ind) & Ryan (Creighton) Nembhard, Jalen (Atl) & Kobe (USC) Johnson, Johnny (DC) & Jordan (Wis) Davis or Obi (NYK) & Jacob (UK) Toppin? Rank a top3 if possible…
Bad one
#1 Michael Jordan and Larry Jordan.
No.
He has an expiring contract of 6,3 million, but I assume Rockets could have given him a Qualifying Offer to keep him? Or even sign-and-trade although I guess that’s never done for salaries around 5 million?
To ensure his freedom, I guess he had to give up almost all of his remaining salary? Although Denver only could offer him a minimum salary.
No QO option for the Rockets — he would’ve been unrestricted in the summer.
A sign-and-trade would’ve been possible, but if Holiday expressed a desire NOT to be there for the rest of the season, they wouldn’t have had much incentive to force him to stay, since a disgruntled veteran probably wouldn’t have been a great influence on a young locker room.
I’d prefer Stanley Johnson.
I thought he’d be begging Jrue to get him a job in Milwaukee. He’d add to the solid wing depth for them.
Justin Holiday > Wesley Mathews
It could be…it could be soooo nice
Good move. They lost a lot of defense losing Finney Smith. Ross and Holiday help fill that role.
But Ross decided to join Durant in Phoenix instead.
Justin Holiday is a solid two-way player who can shoot and defend. Smart move for depth and a good person to boot.