Justin Holiday is leaving the Dallas Mavericks for the Denver Nuggets, according to NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Holiday is signing a one-year deal with the Nuggets, who won the 2023 championship over the Miami Heat in five games. It was Denver’s first title in franchise history.
Holiday played for the Atlanta Hawks and Mavericks last season. The brother of Milwaukee Bucks All-Star Jrue Holiday averaged 4.5 points and 1.2 rebounds in 46 games with Atlanta and Dallas while shooting 37.7% from the field, 32.2% from beyond the arc and 62.5% from the free-throw line.
The Mavericks missed the play-in tournament despite having Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Meanwhile, the Hawks lost to the Boston Celtics in the first round of the 2023 playoffs in six games.
Holiday has career averages of 8.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists with the Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Hawks, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Memphis Grizzlies, Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and Mavericks. He won the 2015 championship with the Warriors over the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games.
The Nuggets lost Bruce Brown to the Pacers and Jeff Green to the Rockets in unrestricted free agency. However, they did re-sign Reggie Jackson and DeAndre Jordan. They also still have the best player in the NBA in Nikola Jokic.
The Warriors were the last team to repeat as champions. They won back-to-back rings in 2017 and 2018. It will be fascinating to see if the Nuggets can repeat as champions next season.
Losing Brown and Green hurts since both players helped Denver win it all this season, but adding Holiday’s shooting skills is a big move considering Jokic is one of the best passers in the NBA and always generates open looks for his teammates.
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