After a frustrating finish to the season, the New Orleans Pelicans find themselves straddling two stages. In one corner is a young core led by Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball. The other corner is a veteran group of Jrue Holiday, JJ Redick and, at least last season, Derrick Favors.
The Pelicans face a multitude of decisions after their failure to make the playoffs. At the top of that list is whether to continue to straddle the two phases or to commit to the young core by acquiring more players on their timeline.
The name that has come up in trade talks often as a result is Holiday. As a player who just passed the wrong side of 30 during the quarantine, Holiday’s window as a peak contributor is quickly closing. Hand in hand with that is that Holiday’s value will only drastically decrease in the coming years.
Tim Bontemps’ latest piece for ESPN discussed what the Golden State Warriors could get in return for a trade involving the No. 2 pick and Holiday’s name surfaced once again in a speculatory manner.
“(Devin) Booker isn’t available. Neither is Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal. Despite a first-round playoff exit, Philadelphia 76ers general manager Elton Brand has declared Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid off limits as well. The best package Golden State has to attract a star — forward Andrew Wiggins, the No. 2 pick and Minnesota’s lightly protected 2021 first-round pick — would almost assuredly be available if any of those players do hit the trade market.
“The most gettable name might wind up being New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday, but he turned 30 in June and can hit free agency in 2021. Celtics guard Marcus Smart was mentioned as another good fit, yet it’s hard to see Boston being willing to move him.”
The Warriors’ unordinary situation as a team focused on winning now with the No. 2 pick presents a situation the Pelicans could be uniquely situated to take advantage of. There is likely no other scenario in which Holiday would realistically net the team the No. 2 pick.
At the same time, the Pelicans were only a small handful of games away from playing in a play-in scenario for a chance at the playoffs. Trading away Holiday, a major contributor to that success, would almost certainly set the team back competitively in the short-term with obvious hopes of a higher ceiling in the long-term.
For this specific trade, New Orleans would also need to hold one of the top prospects in high regard. Given how most NBA general managers view the draft, it’s a stretch to imagine that being a deciding factor in dealing Holiday.
And if the team isn’t trading Holiday for the No. 2 pick, the argument for dealing him loses a significant amount of weight. At that point, the Pelicans would need a package that would blow them away to trade Holiday, given his impact to the team last season and what he means to the franchise.
Ultimately, it’s an argument of where the Pelicans want to head going forward. The answer likely will be heavily influenced or even signaled by their head coaching hire, a search that still remains a relative mystery. Until then, the rumors will continue to circulate.
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