Former UCLA guard Jrue Holiday officially completed his transition from college to the NBA last Tuesday, signing a contract with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Holiday, the No. 17 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, is guaranteed to earn $1.2 million in the first year and $1.3 million in the second year, with options for third and fourth seasons, according to the NBA Rookie Salary scale.
“It’s great for him, it’s great for his family,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. “I’m very confident he will do well.”
In his only season at UCLA, Holiday started all 35 games for the Bruins at shooting guard and averaged 8.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.6 steals. This summer, Holiday averaged 8.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.6 steals in five games with a combined Philadelphia-New Jersey squad in the Orlando Pro Summer League.
While Holiday almost exclusively played shooting guard at UCLA, he is expected to play point guard at the NBA level.
Making that more of a reality was the decision of Philadelphia’s point guard for the past two seasons, Andre Miller, to sign a free-agent contract with the Portland Trailblazers. According to ESPN reports, Miller will accept a three-year deal worth $21 million from Portland, with $14 million guaranteed and $7 million as a third-year team option. Last season, Miller averaged 16.3 points, 6.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals.
Miller’s departure leaves the 76ers with Holiday, Louis Williams and Willie Green as the team’s options at the point guard position.
While the Philadelphia Intelligencer reported on July 24 that should Miller leave Philadelphia, Williams would take over as the starting point guard, Howland believes Holiday enters a scenario where he could find himself playing a lot of minutes very early.
“Number one, it’s very exciting for Jrue,” Howland said. “It puts him in a position to play major minutes right away as a rookie. He is going to grow very quickly and gain more experience. He had good players around him to help him.”