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Team USA involvement could signal Boston Celtics re-signing five-time All-Defensive guard

By Andrew Hughes

Boston Celtics v New York Knicks
Boston Celtics v New York Knicks / Steven Ryan/GettyImages
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Jrue Holiday's involvement with Team USA could signal an interest from the Boston Celtics to get an extension signed by the five-time NBA All-Defensive guard in (or before) the offseason according to Spotrac's Keith Smith.

"I’m guessing Jrue Holiday likely being an apart of Team USA for the Olympics makes it more likely he gets an extension done with the Celtics," Smith prefaced before saying, "Neither side is going to want Holiday’s next deal still out there longer than it has to be."

MassLive's Brian Robb echoed the same sentiment, though his prediction seemed to indicate that the Cs may not wait until the offseason.

"Holiday’s commitment to Team USA could be viewed as a sign that he feels like his long-term future will be settled well before Team USA begins training camp in late June," Robb wrote. "It would be a somewhat risky scenario for a veteran player coming off a deep playoff run to suit up at camp without having their future settled by that point with NBA free agency not set to begin until June 30th."

Boston Celtics appear to be building around current core

It took many different variations of the Celtics over the last decade to figure out who is a long-term building block and who is not. After years of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals, and the Finals in 2022, Boston's front office may have itself a keeper roster right now.

A Holiday extension would keep the team's best defender in tow -- which feels like a necessity given Marcus Smart's summer 2023 departure -- while a Derrick White extension would keep the entire starting five together for at least two years after this one. Jayson Tatum will assuredly get his extension and Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis already have theirs.

Once this core starts winning titles, the free agents will want to take a pay-cut to ring-chase. Holiday's potential extension is the first step of a two-step process to keep this core focused on the on-court mission and not the off-court compensation.

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