Offseason Outlook: Should the Pelicans Keep Jrue Holiday?
By Brandon Suir
Should the Pelicans let Jrue Holiday move on, to save money and keep Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins together for the future?
The New Orleans Pelicans offseason is going to be very interesting to say the least. And Jrue Holiday is going to be a major topic of discussion. Holiday will officially hit the Free Agency market this year. There is already plenty of debate on whether or not the Pelicans should let him walk.
The main focus for New Orleans should be keeping Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins intact. Building around the Two Towers comes next. The Pelicans will certainly need all available cap money, to keep these two together. Some moves seem destined to be made. Is it time for Jrue Holiday to move on?
First let’s make one thing clear: Jrue Holiday is a legitimate two way player. He has been pivotal to this team, despite fans love-hate relationship with him. Holiday is a true 2nd tier point guard in the league.
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Point guard is also the position the Pelicans are not hurting at the most. This makes the question of Holiday’s future somewhat tricky. His 2016-17 salary is just over $11 million and expected to drastically increase. New Orleans could be looking at a $20 million per year contract very soon.
The answer, while a bit unfortunate, is also quite clear.
The Pelicans need to allow Jrue Holiday to walk.
Landing Boogie was huge for New Orleans, but now is the time to be more prudent with the spending of contract dollars. Let’s face it, the Two Towers can still make this team contenders, even with a lesser player at the top of the key. An embarrassing lack of depth at small forward needs to take priority over point guard.
The Philadelphia 76ers will be in the market for a point guard, which gives New Orleans the potential of acquiring Robert Covington. Just an example of the intrigue in moving Holiday to save money and upgrade where needed most.
Players such as Darren Collison or Shaun Livingston, who both would cost the Pelicans between $5-6 million, could fill the position nicely. This would expand the team’s options at small forward.
One possibility of keeping Holiday lies in the upcoming NBA draft. Obviously things will change with the lottery. But the Pelicans are currently looking at the 9th pick. If they sneak into the lottery, they could land Josh Jackson or Miles Bridges. The Pelicans would have the small forward position set.
This would free up the extra money needed to keep Jrue. However, New Orleans could also take a point guard, if they feel that is a better fit. This means moving Holiday and exploring small forwards in free agency.
The latter seems less risky for the Pelicans. However, the draft chances are slim to none. More than likely, the Pelicans will lose their draft pick and have to make a decision on Jrue blind.
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Jrue Holiday is a great player and we’ll be greatly missed. But New Orleans Pelicans fans want to win and want to win now. The time to make the move is here. It’s time to move on from Jrue Holiday.