Justin Holiday agrees to a one-year deal with Denver Nuggets

Free agent Justin Holiday found his new NBA home on Sunday evening. He already won an NBA Championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2015, and on Sunday, it was announced that he’ll be going to the Denver Nuggets, the 2023 NBA Champs. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news on Twitter. Holiday checks in at 6-foot-6 inches tall. He’s blessed with a 7-foot wingspan, which helps him tremendously on the defensive end of the floor.

Holiday has averaged 36.3% from three-point range and 81.7% from the free throw line during his career in the NBA. As a scorer, he’s pumped in 8.4 points per game for his career. He’s bounced around to several teams in the NBA. Holiday began his career in the league during the 2012-2013 season. Thus far he’s suited up with the 76ers, the Golden State Warriors, the Atlanta Hawks, the Chicago Bulls, the New York Knicks, the Memphis Grizzlies, the Indiana Pacers, the Sacramento Kings, and the Dallas Mavericks.

Now, he’ll add the Denver Nuggets to that list, and he’ll get to play with a generational talent in Nikola Jokic. He poured in a career-high 12.2 points per game in 2017-2018. He also had another one of his best seasons with the Bulls in 2018-2019, when he tallied 4.4 rebounds per game, 2.2 assists per game, and 1.8 steals per game.

Always known as a dominant defender, Holiday earned second team All-Defensive Team honors in the NBA D-League–which was the pre-cursor to the G-League.

Justin Holiday has always been a dominant defender

He played his college basketball with the Washington Huskies–where he established himself as one of the most dominant defenders in the Pac-10 (currently known as the Pac-12). Not only was he named to the 2010 Pac-10 All Defensive Team, but he was named Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year in 2011 by Netscouts Basketball. Holiday averaged 1.2 steals per game in 28 minutes per outing. His dominance on the defensive end earned him the nickname, “The Fireman”, for his ability to put out fires on the court with his defense and rebounding.

His senior season also happened to be the year that he erupted for a career-high 23 points against California on January 16th, 2011. During the 2010-2011 season, he averaged 10.5 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game. Holiday also dished out 75 assists and swatted 38 blocks.

As a junior with the Huskies, he was also named to the Pac-10 All Defensive Team after averaging 5.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.0 steals just over 22 minutes per game.

As a high school prospect, Holiday put together an impressive resume. He suited up for Campbell Hall High School (North Hollywood, California), where he averaged 19.1 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks as a senior. The California native guided Campbell Hall to a 33-1 overall record and the state Class IV crown.