3. Justin Holiday is probably going to be able to get more than the veteran minimum
In a somewhat surprising turn of events, Justin Holiday ended up being one of the Nuggets' only reliable bench players in the playoffs. He shot the ball well and played solid defense, coming through for the team on multiple occasions and eventually completely usurping the role of Peyton Watson. Despite putting up an empty stat line in Game 7, Holiday was a team-high +10 in just 9 minutes. He was the only Nugget with a positive +/- who played in the game.
But the 35-year-old is an unrestricted free agent this offseason and there are going to be a lot of teams interested in a solid shooting and defending guard/wing player who just held up in an extremely competitive, high-level playoff series.
Holiday hasn’t had any big contracts in his career, so he’ll likely look to capitalize on whatever payday he can get at this late stage of his playing days. If a team steps up and offers him a solid deal it’s going to be tough for the Nuggets to match. I wouldn’t expect him to take any kind of hometown discount and there are probably teams that can offer him more money as well as a larger role.
Holiday has been a solid contributor for the Nuggets, but the team needs to get younger and can’t be allocating their limited assets to a 35-year-old backup at this point.