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For teams looking for the final piece to become a title contender, Jrue Holiday is going to be a name that will likely come up in discussions. As a veteran that has long established himself as one of the top defenders in the league, Holiday has value to any team due to his versatility on both ends of the court.
There are numerous reasons why the Pelicans should not trade him, but that won’t stop teams from making offers. Bleacher Report’s Preston Ellis proposed a number of trades to create the next superteam and included Jrue Holiday in a pair of those deals.
The first deal would send Holiday to Brooklyn with the Pelicans getting a host of assets:
Orlando Gets: Caris LeVert
Brooklyn Gets: Jrue Holiday, Aaron Gordon
New Orleans Gets: Jarrett Allen, Spencer Dinwiddie, Taurean Prince, 2021 lottery-protected first-round pick from BKN
If the team is looking to remain competitive while also potentially dealing Holiday, this deal would go a long way to ticking off both boxes. Spencer Dinwiddie would immediately step into the starting lineup and replace Holiday offensively and then some. Taurean Prince would provide badly-needed wing depth and Jarrett Allen would be the starting center next to Zion Williamson. Adding another first round pick would be a cherry on top.
It would be quite hard for the Pelicans to turn down this offer as it probably won’t get much better. In reality, it would likely be the Nets who would turn down this offer as trading away four players for just two in return would gut their depth.
The second trade of Holiday would send him Minnesota:
New Orleans Gets: James Johnson, Jarrett Culver, Naz Reid, 2020 No. 1 pick
Minnesota Gets: Jrue Holiday, 2020 No. 13 pick
First, it’s a bit hard to call a team of D’Angelo Russell, Karl-Anthony Towns and Holiday a superteam, but that’s neither here nor there. As noted in the article, though, the only way the Pelicans do this trade is if they find one of Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball or James Wiseman as a can’t-miss prospect and nothing suggests that would be the case.
James Johnson’s best seasons are long behind him and while Jarrett Culver was a top-five pick last season, his rookie season was largely a disappointment and his stock has certainly dropped substantially in the last year. Naz Reid is a fine young player but doesn’t move the needle much.
This trade would be a far larger pill to swallow for Pelican fans than the first one and it’s hard to see the Pelicans pulling the trigger on this one.
Realistically, it’s going to take a blockbuster trade for the Pelicans to part ways with Holiday, who is not only a strong player but a franchise legend that still has multiple productive years remaining.
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