It’s not yet known how the NBA offseason is going to look with the current campaign suspended due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
There’s going to be the 2020 NBA Draft. Free agency will take place in some form. Blockbuster trades will be completed.
Once everything is settled in terms of an off-season schedule, the overriding belief is that the New Orleans Pelicans will move on from star guard Jrue Holiday in a trade.
In talking about the up-and-coming Pelicans, former NBA executive John Hollinger had a rather interested take on Holiday and his trade value.
“The underlying assumption, of course, is that Holiday has significant trade value, but I believe that he does,” Hollinger said, via The Athletic. “It seems reasonable to me that the Pelicans could expect to net two firsts in a Holiday deal, as well as some players as part of the salary match. However, time is wasting because of the option year on Holiday’s deal — this offseason would be the time to act.”
Multiple first-round picks and salary fillers for an expensive guard who is set to turn 30 in June? That seems to be a reach.
However, what we saw leading up to February’s NBA trade deadline seems to suggest that Holiday does indeed have value on the open market.
The former first-round pick was averaging 19.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 6.9 assists on 45% shooting from the field when the season was suspended. An All-Star back in 2012-13, Holiday is under contract with a cap hit of $26.26 million next season. He also has a player option for the 2021-22 campaign.
New Orleans saw the recently-acquired Lonzo Ball up his game once stud rookie Zion Williamson returned from injury. It’s in this that the team could look to move Holiday for more assets and as a way to build a more well-rounded roster.