The Los Angeles Clippers have been one of the more consistent playoff contenders in the Western Conference over the last decade. Since the 2015-16 season, they have qualified for the playoffs in all but two seasons.
But what the Clippers haven’t been able to do is parlay their playoff appearances into deep playoff runs. Los Angeles has advanced past the second round of the playoffs just once in that span, and that came in the 2021 NBA Playoffs when it lost to the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Finals.
With the Clippers being a perennially good team but seemingly needing a missing piece, Boston Celtics reporter Brian Robb has reported that the Clippers will pursue Celtics guard Jrue Holiday in a trade in the offseason.
“Holiday is expected to be pursued by several teams on the trade market, and a league source tells MassLive that the Los Angeles Clippers are one team expected to show interest in the 34-year-old guard this offseason,” Robb wrote.
Over the course of his NBA career, Holiday has been the missing piece to a championship puzzle on multiple teams. First, the Milwaukee Bucks were a consistent playoff team in the late 2010s with big man Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the way, but they didn’t get over the championship hump until the year 2021. The Bucks reached the NBA’s mountaintop in Holiday’s maiden season as a Buck.
More recently, Holiday helped a Celtics team that knocked on the door of a title in years past win the 2024 championship. He was named a member of the All-Defensive Second Team for his efforts in the 2023-24 regular season and converted a career-high 42.9 percent of his 3-point attempts.
Still, even if he’s been key to two championship runs earlier on this decade, he’s fresh off his worst season in a long time, and it’s worth debating if he can still be one of the best players on a title team.
After all, Holiday isn’t getting any younger at 34 years old, and he’s not far removed from a lackluster stint with Boston in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. He averaged just 9.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game across eight postseason appearances.
Holiday is also set to get paid quite a bit of money next season, especially for a player whose most productive seasons are likely behind him. He will earn $32.4 million in the 2025-26 season and $34.8 million in the 2026-27 campaign before he has a player option for the 2027-28 season.
