Lillard and Holiday- Two Great NBA Point Guards who will forever be intertwined
(Why is this even a question lately?)
Jrue Holiday was an integral part of the Milwaukee Bucks winning the 2021 NBA Championship.
Trading him away was tough on the community and tough on fans who still reminisce about that title run.
But Damian Lillard, by almost every statistical measure, is a better player. Milwaukee gave up Jrue Holiday, Grayson Allen, two first-round pick swaps, and the 2029 first-round pick to acquire him. That is a lot.
There seems to be a new narrative forming in NBA circles, mostly in large part to infamous NBA analyst and Celtics fan Bill Simmons, that Boston has already won the Lillard for Holiday trade. Let’s look more at the numbers, starting with career numbers and then drilling down to specific moments this season.
Related: Bucks vs Pacers Game Preview
Lillard vs Holiday: Career Numbers
Damian Lillard is considered to be one of the NBA’s Top all-time 75 greatest players. Jrue Holiday is not on that list.
Lillard, the 33-year old flashy point guard, has scored over 20,165 points in his NBA career. Lillard is 49th, all-time, in NBA scoring. So, in the league’s 75-year history, he is the 49th-highest scorer. That’s impressive.
Holiday, the 33-year old defensive point guard, to his credit has scored 15,264 career points.
In terms of career assists (since both guys play point guard) Holiday has 6,012 career “dimes”. Lillard only has 5,361. Lillard has 667 career steals. Holiday has 1,373 career steals.
Holiday has a career 78.3% free throw shooting percentage. Lillard has a career free throw shooting percentage of 89.6%.
When we look at the career numbers it becomes easy to peg Damian Lillard as an offensive juggernaut and Holiday as the defensive stalwart. For Bucks fans that was certainly what we saw with our own eyes during the 2021 title run.
Direct 2023-2024 Season Comparisons So Far, This Year
- Holiday: 12.9 points per game. 4.8 assists per game. .9 steals. .8 blocks. 45.4% field goal percentage. 80.4% FT%.
- Lillard: 25.5 points per game. 6.8 assists per game. 1.0 steal. .2 blocks. 43.1% field goal percentage. 92.4% FT%.
Well, the top-line number of points per game certainly jumps out: Damian Lillard has, basically, doubled Jrue Holiday’s points per game output so far this year.
What of course is so surprising is the assists per game number. Lillard is outperforming Holiday significantly.
The casuals won’t be addressed but the trailblazers fans and city of Portland that I love truly will be … and they will be addressed truthfully. Stay tuned
Excited for my next chapter! @Bucks 🎟️
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) September 27, 2023
The value to the “team”
Milwaukee is (24-9) on the season. The Bucks were (11-2) in December. Milwaukee has a high-powered offense that is exciting. With a new star in Damian Lillard, that makes sense. The Bucks are 2nd in the NBA in points scored (124.6). But fans, needless to say, started the season worried about this team. Again this idea still permeates league circles that Dame can’t play D or score at-will like he used to be able to.
Boston is also doing well. They are (26-7) on the year. Holiday, however, did not play so hot in their most recent loss to OKC. He only managed 7 points. But it is early and there is no need to “fuss”.
Lillard, also, does not see what the big fuss is about.
You put a lot of really good players together, it takes time to jell, get to know each other and make things work for everybody… Now you’re starting to see us win in a different type of way because we’re starting to get to know each other better.
Quote Taken from Jamal Collier, ESPN
It does not take much statistical poking and prodigy to see that this Milwaukee Bucks offense is pretty darn good. Last year’s offense was good (8th in the NBA in scoring 116 points per game) but this year’s offense is the kind of offense that wins games.
We’re getting more comfortable,” Lillard said. “It’s different when you can communicate a little differently. You know what somebody likes. You know what somebody wants. You know how to make it work. We’re just continuing to get better and I think a game like tonight shows.
So, if the debate is “offense” vs “defense” maybe it needs to be more about “wins and losses”. And specifically, “playoff wins and losses”. For that we’ll all patiently have to sit and wait and see. Once April rolls around the “Lillard vs Holiday” debate will look a lot more settled than it is ⅓ of the way into the NBA regular season.
So you hate to say it (and I hate to write it), but the debate seems TBD: still to be determined.
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