If the New Orleans Pelicans trade Jrue Holiday, he has value beyond the initial haul.
The New Orleans Pelicans have already been involved in so many trade rumors it is hard to keep them straight.
Most have involved shooting guard Jrue Holiday, which make sense given his age, salary and value. The Pelicans have several big holes to fill and trading Holiday is probably the best way to do it.
With the Pelicans low on available money and the offseason low on free agents, now might be the perfect time to sell high on Jrue Holiday, get back a big haul and clear up some cap space at the same time.
Most trades have the Pelicans taking back a big contract or a bunch of young players to match Holiday’s salary, but the smart move would be to trade Holiday to a team with cap space that can absorb the big contract without sending one back.
If the New Orleans Pelicans can trade Holiday to such a team, they could potentially get a nice package of players, draft assets, pieces to make additional trades and cap space.
The first trade for Holiday is just the beginning, as it would have a domino effect similar to Memphis trading Mike Conley.
The Grizzlies were able to trade Conley to the Jazz for Grayson Allen, Darius Bazley, Jae Crowder, Kyle Korver and a first round draft pick.
They eventually flipped Bazley, Crowder and Korver in other trades and walked away with Grayson Allen, Brandon Clarke, Josh Jackson, De’Anthony Melton, Justise Winslow, Gorgui Dieng and three draft picks for Mike Conley. Not bad.
Holiday is even better than Conley and in this offseason, could turn into a huge pile of assets that the Pelicans could use to rebuild their roster.
Here is an example trade of how they could do it.