Jrue Holiday: Too valuable for New Orleans Pelicans to find fair trade
What type of value is found at the price it cost the New Orleans Pelicans to retain Jrue Holiday?
Frontcourt players on bigger deals
The first group to section away is the bigs. Anthony Davis is on this list, but his future with the team is an unknown variable. Possible trades could change the financial equation, but it’s doubtful that trade would change Holiday’s perception here much.
Al Horford (4 years/$113.3m), Paul Millsap (2 years/$61m), Hassan Whiteside (4 years/$98.4m), Andre Drummond (5 years/$127.2m), and Blake Griffin (5 years/$171.2m) are older and paid more than Holiday. The NBA is evolving away from traditional on-the-block bigs like Drummond and Whiteside. Griffin is hobbled yet again. Horford would be serviceable to the Pelicans for a bridge year, then likely traded.
Joel Embiid (5 years/$147.7m) has an injury history. There is no trusting Philadelphia. The 76ers had to pay New Orleans millions for hiding information during the Holiday trade. Embiid has the potential to develop into a great modern big man, but he also has an injury history.
Add Paul George (3 years/$100m) to the injury history list while we’re at it. Andrew Wiggins (4 years/$147.7m) also makes more than Jrue and is worth infinitely less to his team. Otto Porter (4 years/$106.5m) has done little to show he can lead Washington, or any franchise, since teammate John Wall’s injury before Porter got shipped to the Bulls.
Gordon Hayward (4 years/$127.8m) is still yet to find his pre-injury peak form. He is also a possible candidate to be included in the Davis trade or some other Boston Celtics reshuffling to keep an Irving-Davis future possible. Holiday for Hayward straight up is a trade the Griffin-led Pelicans would decline with a hardy laugh.
Pricier backcourt options
John Wall (4 years/$171m) is an acceptable first name mentioned here. Bradley Beal (5 years/$127.2m) would be a lateral move at best, both in salary cap flexibility and on court production.
Since the emotions are supposed to be ignored, use injury history and age to add Chris Paul (4 years/$159.7m) to this list. Continuing, Mike Conley (5 years/$152.6m) has reached his expiration date in Memphis, and most NBA starting lineups. Conley could be a free agent next summer, possibly worth one of the Pelicans’ roster exceptions.
CJ McCollum (4 years/$106.6m) and Damian Lillard (5 years/$140m) fans and folks prone to playing devil’s advocate have a couple arguments, maybe. Last year’s playoffs showed why Holiday deserved more recognition, especially for those lauding the Portland pair. This year’s playoffs are convincing many that Russell Westbrook (5 years, $206.8 m) should have his playing style and hollow triple-doubles reexamined.
DeMar DeRozan (5 years/$139m) and Kyle Lowry (3 years/$100m) could not lead the Raptors to the Finals, but now they have a chance to meet in one. (What? You doubting Popovich? Yea, I know. Okay.)
The few cheaper stars
Bigs on slightly smaller salaries this season include Nikola Jokic (5 years/$142m), Steven Adams (4 years/$100M), and Kevin Love (4 years/$120M), but Love’s four year extension does not even start until next season.
Jimmy Butler ($20m) and Kyrie Irving ($20m) are currently cheaper but will both be free agents this summer and will be seeking max salaries exceeding Holiday’s cap hit. Devin Booker is currently cheaper but will cost almost ten million more (5 years/$168m) than Holiday once his extension kicks in.
Clearly, Holiday’s contract is a great value when you consider the short list of comparable players currently on cheaper deals.
In conclusion
Trades are tricky ordeals. Draft picks are great in theory, until the selection is actually made. Then that player with potential is too young to win in the playoffs. Once they make a playoff appearance, they ask for max contracts. That creates difficult restricted and regular free agency decisions. This causes salary crunches, especially for small market teams with luxury tax aversions.
Some players get more than they should while other settle for a fraction of their asking price. Just track the career contracts of Nerlens Noel, to bring the Jrue Holiday story full circle. The gambles of the unknown bring more risk than reward. Why take a chance when Jrue Holiday is a well-known, well-liked, well-priced NBA talent?
Go through the players mentioned above. How many would be a better value for the Pelicans going forward? Not many, and those rare few get to pick their destinations. None have picked New Orleans, or even expressed an interest. Jrue Holiday is the Pelicans’ best attraction to entice any free agents. He is also the most underappreciated talent on perhaps the most team friendly contract above $20 million.
Next. Should Pelicans re-sign Randle if he opts out?. dark
Finding value in the contracts most responsible for earning victories is the best way to build a competitive team quickly. Only the worst teams actively seek to trade away healthy and happy stars on great contracts. Unless Griffin can acquire one of the NBA’s biggest stars, any trade sending Jrue Holiday away from the New Orleans Pelicans makes little sense. He’s meant too much to this city.