A Late Christmas

If the Pelicans are going to trade Anthony Davis, the next move they should make is Jrue Holiday. Their overlooked and underrated guard could be the missing piece for a lot of teams in the NBA, just not New Orleans.

The Anthony Davis era is finally coming to a close in New Orleans. Arguably one of the greatest squanderings of talent is coming to a lackluster and disappointing end. It’s a sad day for all of us, as he will undoubtedly join a contender at some point soon, and if you’re not a fan of a top-five team in the NBA, odds are the only time you’re going to see him is when he puts up 35-15 against your favorite team. Bummer. I’m not here to add more fuel to the already volcanic Anthony Davis trade talks. I’m here to talk about  his teammate, Jrue Holiday.

Jrue Holiday has had an interesting career. Drafted 17th overall out of UCLA by the Sixers in 2009, he spent four rather productive years in The City of Brotherly Love, averaging over 12 PPG for three of those four seasons, and was named an All-Star in his fourth season. In October of 2012, he signed a 4 year $41 million rookie extension but was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans in the summer of 2013 for Nerlens Noel, and a 2014 1st round pick.

With Anthony Davis turning into a star and the addition of Jrue Holiday, his arrival marked a new era of basketball for New Orleans. Holiday’s first year with the Pelicans saw him average 14-4-7, Davis average 20-10-1 and the Pelicans win seven more games than the previous season. The team still wasn’t great, only winning 34 games, but they showed signs of improvement.

The following season the Pelicans won 45 games and lost in the 1st round of the playoffs. Holiday and Davis averaged 14-3-6 and 24-10-2, respectively. Holiday, unfortunately, missed 41 games due to a stress reaction in his right leg. Since the 2014-15 45 win season, the Pelicans have put up 30-52, 34-48, and 48-34 records. Anthony Davis has dominated in every single season, establishing himself as one of the leagues best players. Holiday has been great in his own way, playing consistently well, becoming a great passer in the point guard role, and becoming a defensive anchor. His efforts may have largely gone unnoticed by casual NBA fans but the Pelicans management team noticed, and rewarded him, with a 5 year $131 million extension in 2017.

Moving On

Now that Davis is on the outs, its time to move Holiday as well. The Pelicans can get a good return for him and keeping him would only prolong the inevitable massive retool the Pelicans will undergo. As mentioned earlier, I really believe he could be the missing piece for a team to become a contender.

Landing Places for Jrue Holiday

Brooklyn Nets (6th  28-27)

• The Brooklyn Nets are in need of a starting caliber SG. Joe Harris has been fine but is nowhere near Jrue Holiday’s skill level.
• The Nets have $8,176,089 in cap and should be willing to go into the luxury to make a playoff push, getting off the Crabbe contract would really help.
• Holiday could be apart of a deadly, D-Lo/Dinwiddie and Holiday backcourt for the next few years.

Indiana Pacers (4th  34-19)

• The Pacers could use an All-Star player running either the point or the SG role.
• The loss of Victor Oladipo is a huge one and they should consider a move.
• The Pacers have $17,282,444 in cap meaning they’d barely go over the luxury.
• Oladiop would return next season and they could have a Dipo-Holiday backcourt.

Philidelphia 76ers (5th  34-19)

• I only put them on here because of the possibility of Butler walking in FA.
• Sixers have $19,297,932 in cap.
• An issue would be the possibility of impeding Landry Shamets progress as a player.
• A more viable option would be an offseason trade.

Sacramento Kings (9th  28-25)

• Kings looked good earlier in the year and could definitely snag the 8th or 7th seed.
• Have a lot of rookie contracts and should take advantage of the cap space.
• Really need a starting caliber shooter to pair with Fox.
• Shumpert is starting and is averaging 8-3-2 on 38% FG and 36% FG3.
• Have $32,888,578 in cap.
• Holiday could finally bring some success to Sacramento.

Utah Jazz

• The only reason I say this is because of their PG situation.
• Holiday is no stranger to running the point, and Rubio is not doing a great job of it this year.
• Rubio is averaging 12-3-6 on poor shooting (this is still one of his best seasons)
• Holidays best season at PG he averaged 17-4-8 and shot better than Rubio is this year.
• The Jazz also have $10,588,984 in cap.
• If the Jazz can string a trade for Jrue Holiday, I think they should.

In short, Jrue Holiday is a valuable player that the Pelicans would be foolish to hold on to. The Pelicans could get a decent return and Holiday could help any one of these teams make a push. Christmas is a little late this year for any team that can snag Holiday.