NBA players signed new contracts with their teams: the Boston Celtics locked up Jrue Holiday, and the Phoenix Suns signed Grayson Allen to multi-year deals. Boston Celtics and the Phoenix Suns locked in Jrue Holiday and Grayson Allen to multi-year deals.
NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer shared his thoughts on these new deals, suggesting that they might be used as trade assets for the Celtics and the Suns in the future.
The Celtics secured Jrue Holiday with a four-year, $135 million extension, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, after clinching homecourt advantage for the playoffs with a 64-18 season. The Suns signed Grayson Allen to a four-year, $70 million deal, as reported by Wojnarowski, securing his services for the next few years.
BREAKING: After arriving in a blockbuster offseason trade, Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday has agreed on a four-year, $135 million contract extension, his agent Jason Glushon of @GlushonSM tells ESPN. pic.twitter.com/Llln2yczSI
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 10, 2024
Phoenix Suns guard Grayson Allen has agreed on a four-year $70 million contract extension with a player option, Mitch Nathan, Aaron Mintz and Steven Heumann of @CAA_Basketball tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/RWX8VVsxGR
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 15, 2024
These extensions took two guards from the 2024 free-agency class just before the postseason, and their contract values could impact pricing for other guards in the upcoming free agency market.
O’Connor commended the Celtics and Suns for locking up their productive guards before other teams had a chance to pursue them in the offseason.
However, O’Connor believes that Allen and Holiday may not play out their entire contracts, speculating that their teams will use the contracts as trade assets in the future.
O’Connor mentioned in a recent podcast that the teams may consider trading them in year 3 or 4 of their contracts, noting the importance of having their deals secured for future trade opportunities. This was discussed in the Ringer TV podcast episode on April 16.
Impact of Jrue Holiday in Boston
Jrue Holiday joined the Celtics in September 2023 through a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers, who had acquired him from the Bucks as part of a Damian Lillard deal.
Holiday made a significant impact for the Celtics, excelling as a premier perimeter defender and playmaker, despite his statistical numbers decreasing this season.
Holiday also achieved career-highs in 3-point shooting percentage (42.9 3P%) and true shooting (59.7 TS%) in his first year with the Celtics, according to NBA stats.
Grayson Allen's Role in the Suns as a 3-and-D Player
After spending two seasons on the Bucks' bench, Grayson Allen played a significant role for the Suns this season, emerging as an ideal 3-and-D player. Damian Lillard
In 75 regular-season games with Phoenix, Allen achieved his best stats in both traditional and advanced categories. He averaged 13.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists while making 50 percent of his field goals and a league-best 46.1 percent from 3-point range. per NBA.com.
Allen has improved offensively with the Suns while maintaining his reputation as one of the NBA’s toughest perimeter defenders, often serving as the enforcer for the talented Suns team.
