{"id":62301,"date":"2024-01-27T11:34:36","date_gmt":"2024-01-27T16:34:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=62301"},"modified":"2024-01-27T11:34:36","modified_gmt":"2024-01-27T16:34:36","slug":"nba-news-boston-celtics-guard-open-to-contract-extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/01\/27\/nba-news-boston-celtics-guard-open-to-contract-extension\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA News: Boston Celtics Guard Open To Contract Extension"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Boston Celtics guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holidjr01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-01-27_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jrue Holiday<\/a> has only been with the team for half a season. After news broke in October that the team acquired the former NBA champion, Holiday has made it clear <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/boston-celtics\/jrue-holiday-opens-up-on-future\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">he\u2019d like to stay with the team<\/a> for a little while longer:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI\u2019d like to be here,\u201d Holiday told MassLive. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m getting more and more comfortable, loving the guys, loving the organization and loving the city.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Holiday has a player option worth $39.4 million for next season. However, it\u2019s common for players to opt out of their options to sign a long-term deal, much like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/porzikr01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-01-27_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kristaps Porzingis<\/a> did upon getting traded to the Celtics <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2023\/07\/01\/breakdown-of-celtics-day-1-free-agency-moves\/\" target=\"_self\">last summer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This season, Holiday is averaging 13.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game. Additionally, Holiday is shooting 46.3% from the field. Thanks in part to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/01\/17\/jrue-holidays-incredible-sacrifice-this-season\/\" target=\"_self\">Holiday&#8217;s contributions,<\/a> the 35-10 Boston Celtics currently own the NBA&#8217;s best record.<\/p>\n<h2>NBA News: Boston Celtics Guard Open To Contract Extension<\/h2>\n<h3>Jrue Holiday\u2019s Impact<\/h3>\n<p>Though his offense has been helpful for the Celtics, Holiday&#8217;s main role is as a defensive specialist. More specifically, Holiday was intended to replace <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/smartma01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-01-27_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marcus Smart<\/a>\u2019s defense and grit. Arguably the best perimeter defender in the league, Holiday\u2019s backcourt pairing with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/whitede01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-01-27_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derrick White<\/a> has elevated the Celtics\u2019 overall defense. In an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=z3HsqocWa9A&amp;t\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">interview<\/a> with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/redicjj01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">J.J. Redick<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.boston.com\/sports\/boston-celtics\/2024\/01\/05\/derrick-white-jrue-holiday-best-teammate-celtics\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">White<\/a> talked about the three-time NBA Teammate of the Year&#8217;s fit with the Celtics:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWhen Smart got traded, it was a shock,\u201d White said. \u201cThen, it was like, \u2018Oh, there\u2019s going to be a lot more opportunities and I\u2019m going to have to step up with the ball in my hand, compared to last year.\u2019 When we brought Jrue along, everybody was like, \u2018We still need you to be aggressive and how we envisioned it before we got Jrue.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jrue Holiday Defensive Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VeSl-6nxXhQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Currently, the Celtics own the second-best defensive rating in the NBA behind the Minnesota Timberwolves. Boston&#8217;s 6.4 blocks per game also rank as second-best in the league behind the Oklahoma City Thunder. Perhaps most notably, however, the Celtics allow just 14 points per game off turnovers, tied with the Houston Rockets for best in the NBA.<\/p>\n<h3>Should the Celtics extend Jrue Holiday?<\/h3>\n<p>One thing to note about the Celtics possibly extending Holiday is that <a href=\"https:\/\/nesn.com\/2024\/01\/celtics-fans-will-love-jrue-holidays-reported-desire-to-stay-in-boston\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">talks are going to have to wait<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Due to the NBA\u2019s Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Celtics have to wait six months before they can sign Holiday to a contract extension, but they could extend him for up to four years.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Because the Celtics acquired Holiday in October, an extension cannot officially happen until April. Signing an extension during the season, however, appears to be something <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hoopsrumors.com\/2024\/01\/jrue-holiday-optimistic-about-extension-with-celtics.html#google_vignette\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Holiday is open to<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cMy last extension was during the course of the year,\u201d said Holiday, who last signed an extension with the Bucks in April of 2021 (that season ended in mid-May). \u201cI think that we can do both, talk about it and as well as prepare for games and prepare for what the future is.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Another thing to keep in mind is that the rest of Boston&#8217;s top six are all under contract next season. However, White&#8217;s contract expires in 2025. Although the Celtics may retain both guards, locking Holiday up now provides long-term insurance.<\/p>\n<p>Though he is already 33 years old, second-oldest on the Celtics behind <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/horfoal01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-01-27_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Al Horford<\/a>, locking Holiday up for the long run is a no-brainer for Boston.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday has only been with the team for half a season. After news broke in October that the team acquired the former NBA champion, Holiday has made it clear he\u2019d like to stay with the team for a little while longer: \u201cI\u2019d like to be here,\u201d Holiday told MassLive. \u201cI feel [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4631,"featured_media":62317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1608,62,3],"tags":[1090,239,138],"class_list":["post-62301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celtics","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-derrick-white","tag-jrue-holiday","tag-kristaps-porzingis"],"modified_by":"Elie Deglaoui","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4631"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}