The 3 Jrue Holiday trades that New Orelans Pelicans fans won’t hate

The Miami Heat are intent on a 2020 title run and are willing to give up respectable future assets to New Orleans

Adding Jimmy Butler in the offseason on a long term deal, the Miami Heat attempted to open a title window that would really benefit from another All-Star level player in their prime.

While Goran Dragic is a former All-Star and a quality point guard even at 33-years-old, he’s not quite the same player he was during his best years in the mid-2010s.

Pat Riley is always interested in how he can make his roster better, as the architect of three Miami championships over an eight-year span certainly used some creativity in the transaction department to improve his team’s odds.

However, those same risky roster moves are the reason Miami is currently faced with the tax apron, which means any trade they do will need to include direct matching salaries or require a team to take on more money in a deal.

Further, the Miami Heat don’t have many tradeable pieces in the first round under the Stepien rule, which withholds teams from trading consecutive first-round selections. They’re also weighed down by multi-year deals to James Johnson and Dion Waiters, both of whom have hardly seen the floor this season.

They do, on the other hand, have valuable young players like Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson who can space the floor with ease, both looking like long-term NBA players with solid offensive acumen.

If the Miami Heat needed to add even one more chip into the mix just to make the assets that much sweeter, they could include a 2022 second-round pick swap that’s the less favorable selection of the Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets.

Dealing Jrue Holiday to Miami would make a lot of sense for the Heat, as putting another hardworking, two-way guard next to Jimmy Butler could make them a tough out for any team in the East, let alone in the entirety of the playoff picture.