Justin Holiday

Justin Holiday
SG - 6’6, 180lbs - 29 years old - 5 years of experience

To be fair to Holiday, ignore the scoring efficiencies and any statistical by-product thereof. He was the victim of the Bulls’ putrid offensive start to the season, and, on a team that could basically never get beyond the first line of the defence and also had little ability to score from outside it, he became Designated Shot Chucker-Upper. Or rather, he chose to be. Not much encouragement was needed.

Also to be fair to Holiday, it is not his fault that he was strategically benched in the final third of the season for the rather forgivable crime of being a bit too decent. He still managed to start 72 games, which is more than many players with relatively healthy seasons manage, yet the completely healthy Holiday was removed from the rotation so transparently that the NBA had to issue a warning, and even when said warning was heeded, his minutes were cut drastically. As mitigating circumstances go, Holiday has quite the excusatory season for his numbers.

Perhaps, then, we should overlook the Holiday of the present in deference to the Holidays of the past and future. The Holiday of the past is a good defensive player on the wing, staying in front and playing the passing lanes, while also spotting up and cutting a bit to fill a useful offensive role too. The Holiday of the future should be that, too, unless he keeps on with a Kobe-like usage rate. That mustn’t become habit. That was a one-time deal.

Player Plan: One year, $4,384,616 remaining. This is a good player on a good price; a competitive team prepared to dump assets to gain flexibility might be even more willing to do so if Holiday went back the other way. Trade for value if possible, but do not dump.

Justin Holiday
SG, 6’6, 185lbs, 28 years old, 4 years of experience

Holiday has been a good piece of four different wing rotations across the last three seasons, and continues to be so. With good length, energy and athleticism, Holiday is a committed and effective wing defender, the best defensive player on the wing on the team. Offensively, while he is not a creator or much of a handler (almost every single shot he made, from all areas, was assisted), Holiday spots up fairly well from outside the three-point line, and is pretty good from one step inside it too. He will run the court, cut, and be aggressive within the bounds of his skill set. He has earned a pay rise.

Player Plan: Entering unrestricted free agency. Having only had minimum salaries previously, it is time Holiday gets paid, a fine MLE candidate for a contending team that the Knicks, Early Bird rights in tow, would do well to offer as well.

Justin Holiday

Signed very late in the season to a contract through 2015, Jrue's brother could be that coveted three-and-D type that all teams seek in their non-star wings. He has improved year on year, particularly in the "three" part of that description, hitting 41% of them for the Idaho Stampede on his way to averages of 17.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. This is very impressive from a player standing only 6'6, and Holiday is perhaps as ready as anyone for a Danny Green-like breakout to whoever affords him the opportunity. This isn't Rodney Carney we're talking about here - this is a potential high quality NBA role player. Give Holiday minutes and the loss of Dorell Wright is immediately offset.

Justin Holiday - Like Bishop, Holiday excels a defender, a glue guy and defensive wing specialist with a rather underwhelming offensive profile. But like Bishop, his offensive game took a significant leap forward as a senior, to the point that he's put himself into draft connection. Holiday's off-the-dribble game is still limited, he never gets (or looks to get) to the foul line, and there's no hint of a post game, yet his ability to spot up for jumpers improved at least twofold, and his scoring average almost doubled from 5.9 to 10.5ppg. Holiday has a shooting guard's body without having a handle - if he can demonstrate enough of one to allow him to regularly play the two guard spot, this will help greatly.

The biggest thing for Washington is their smallest. Point guard Isaiah Thomas (no relation) is hugely athletic, quick, crafty and thoroughly unafraid. He takes it into the trees, hits his high arcing layups and floaters, and is a good outside shooter. He is also immeasurably improved as a point guard, despite being a natural two, and is now amongst the nation's leaders in assists, doing it mainly in drive-and-dish and transition situations. Comparisons to Nate Robinson are inevitable, but they have some basis in fact, and should be regarded as flattering. Alongside him, similarly athletic small guard Venoy Overton is possibly the best guard defender in the nation, using relentless energy to overcome his size disadvantage, even on some off-guards far bigger than he. Furthermore, starting wing Justin Holiday (Jrue's brother) has broken out as a senior. Always an athlete, Holiday was largely just a defender only heading into this season, yet now he demonstrates a greatly improved offensive game. He gets open for threes and is hitting them at 36%, as well as scoring in transition. There's little dribble-drive game at the moment, but as a shooting/defending role player, Holiday has become interesting.