We Have Our First Truly Legit NBA Offseason Trade News!
We finally have some legit offseason news! Not rumors of fake trades, not rumors of players wanting to opt out, not some bullshit report that a team is "interested" in a guy despite that trade never going to happen. It feels great to actually have something concrete and not only that, but involving a really good player!
In the event you don't really watch the Pelicans, you may not be aware of Jrue Holiday, a player many considered to be the most underrated player in the league. A fantastic on ball defender and a guy that just put up 19/4.8/6.7 on 45/35% splits, Holiday is legit
I'm actually a little surprised that the Pelicans would make him available. I guess if you blow their dick off they'd be fine moving on from him, but given how Lonzo looked in the bubble and JJ Redick's age, they aren't exactly loaded at guard depth. There's Frank Jackson, Nickeil-Alexander Walker, and E'Twaun Moore currently on the roster. Jackson is a RFA this offseason and Moore is an UFA. So basically they could be low on options rather quickly if they move Holiday and don't replace his position.
What's weird is that the Pelicans need to make huge strides on the defensive end if they want to get into the top 8, and I would think having a guy that basically plays All NBA caliber defense would be helpful in that regard. In terms of Holiday's deal, he's under contract for $25M this year and has a $26M player option for next season. They must know that Holiday is planning on hitting the market after this upcoming season if they are willing to trade him now. Basically an AD 2.0 situation.
So the question now becomes, who are the contenders Shams is talking about? My gut says Brooklyn. Makes too much sense in my opinion. Maybe a package including Spencer Dinwiddie or something along those lines. I'd love him on the Celts, but they don't have the money to make it work with players NO would be interested in. There's always the Lakers, I'm not sure how they make the money work but I've lived long enough to know you don't rule out Klutch and LeBron. Maybe they flip Danny Green/Kuzma and pieces. Someone like Denver might be in on Holiday and can maybe leverage Gary Harris as a similar on ball defender/contract to use. To me Jrue Holiday isn't someone that moves the needle by himself, but you add him to a contending team that already has blue chip building blocks in place, well that changes things. He's definitely good enough to push a team over the hump if it's the right situation.
My money is on the Nets being the most interested. If they are somehow able to hang onto LeVert, a Kyrie/LeVert/Jrue/KD foursome is pretty fucking nice. That might be a pipedream for Nets fans, but at this point I don't think we can rule anything out.