As the Golden State Warriors look to remain competitive at the end of their championship window, the No. 2 pick they hold this season will be heavily shopped in the coming months. While a player like Giannis Antetoukounmpo won’t be attainable with that pick and the limited assets the Warriors hold, the team can still bring in an impact player.
Of late, the player most mentioned in trade rumors is Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday. At 30 years old, Holiday doesn’t fit the exact timeline of the Pelicans. His skill set would fit wonderfully into the Warriors’ style and could provide them a more immediate boost than any prospect selected No. 2 would.
NBC Sports’ Tom Haberstroh spoke to NBC Sports Bay Area recently and added some more fuel to the fire on the rumors (h/t Pelican Debrief).
“I think they are going to obviously try to get Jrue Holiday in New Orleans… Jrue Holiday is an elite perimeter defender, he may not have made All-Defense but I think he is right up there with the best perimeter defenders in the league, and I think he’d be a great fit next to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
“He’s not going to come cheaply, so in order to get someone like Jrue Holiday, you’ll have to give up assets, and certainly David Griffin would be asking for a boatload of whatever the Golden State Warriors have.”
It’s hard to imagine the Warriors would be willing to part with enough, or potentially even have enough, to trade for Holiday. With the likes of Draymond Green, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson off the table in talks, that leaves very little interesting assets remaining.
The most intriguing assets the Warriors have are both the No. 2 pick and the Timberwolves’ 2021 first round pick. After that, the value of assets takes a big dip whether it’s other draft picks or the handful of prospects the team has. And that isn’t even to mention the lack of value the No. 2 pick in this draft holds in a weaker draft that previous years.
A player like Holiday, who is in the middle of his prime and one of the best defenders in the league, would command a big package in return. The caveat in any Golden State trade this off-season is that, with few exceptions, they’ll have to include Andrew Wiggins in the deal, a player with negative trade value given his contract.
The most realistic way the Warriors would be able to pull off a deal would be by including a third team that could help create a more appealing package for the Pelicans, but that gets even further complicated. As is, a trade between the Warriors and Pelicans for Holiday feels highly unlikely.