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.
New Orleans Pelicans: Trading Jrue Holiday to the Atlanta Hawks
Trading Holiday to the Hawks
The New Orleans Pelicans are almost certain to offer Brandon Ingram a max contract extension this offseason, which will more or less eat up their entire cap.
They’ll have roughly $29 million in cap space before signing Ingram, so depending on where the cap lands and Ingram’s contract starts, they could have less than $4 million to spend on a center, backup point guard and another forward.
The “don’t trade Jrue Holiday” crowd should know that it’s a cap issue for the Pelicans, not a player issue. The Pelicans had the best starting lineup in the NBA last year but it didn’t matter because their bench was terrible.
If they want to be competitive they need to get a bigger and deeper roster or it won’t matter how good the starting five is. Here is a trade with Atlanta that gets back some useful players, opens up some cap space and sets the table for future moves.
This is just a hypothetical, as Atlanta is one of the teams that will have the cap space to absorb Holiday’s contract without sending a big one back.
The Knicks, Pistons and Hornets will also have lots of cap space, so there are other options out there. This gets Atlanta a defensive guard to pair with Trae Young without giving up any of their core pieces.
The Pelicans might have to throw in their #13 pick to make it work, but even so, this would be an interesting offer, as it would allow them to fill two areas of weakness without taking on a huge salary.
It would also give them two picks in the draft which they could package to make another move, or just take and add young talent to their core.
This trade would also set up future trades.
New Orleans Pelicans: Trading Jrue Holiday to the Atlanta Hawks has long-term rewards
The Continued Haul
Once a trade like this is complete, the Pelicans have a bunch of additional moves they could make.
First of all, this move would clear up around $12 million in cap space that the Pelicans can use on a free agent or two.
They would also have a surplus of shooters, as Huerter could move into either a starting role or come off the bench, which might make J.J. Redick expendable.
Redick has been great for the Pelicans, but he is 36, on an expiring contract, and can still bring back assets himself. The Holiday trade would allow the Pels to flip Redick for even more parts.
The Pels are able to flip Redick for a young wing who can defend, which helps balance their guard-heavy roster, gets them more size and defense and more depth behind Ingram.
This trade is a wash salary wise, though the Pels would be taking on an extra year of Prince. They still have cap space to play with in free agency, which is where this gets interesting.
New Orleans Pelicans: Free agent prospects to target
A Big Time Free Agent
Now that the Pelicans have more cap space and not as many needs, they may be able to swing for the fences in free agency.
Depending on where the cap ends up, the Pels could waive Darius Miller and potentially have enough to grab a big free agent.
This free agent crop isn’t great, but there are definitely guys in that range that the Pels could get.
If they wanted to spend it all on one guy, Serge Ibaka would be the ideal choice, as he can protect the rim, spread the floor and knows how to win.
They could go for someone like Danilo Gallinari, a stretch-four who would is deadly in the pick-and-roll.
If they wanted to spread it around they could go after Aron Baynes, Joe Harris or Davis Bertans. There are a lot of options that make sense.
Let’s say the Pelicans were able to land Ibaka. Their rotation would look something like this:
PG: Lonzo Ball
SG: Josh Hart/ Kevin Huerter
SF: Brandon Ingram/ Taurean Prince
PF: Zion Williamson/Nicolo Melli
C: Serge Ibaka/Dewayne Dedmon/Jaxson Hayes
This team is much-improved defensively, more balanced, versatile and the Pels would still have two draft picks to work with.
New Orleans Pelicans: Adding talent in the NBA Draft
Adding More Young Talent
Now the Pelicans have a deeper and more versatile roster and still have two lottery picks to use in the NBA Draft.
This is where things could get crazy, as the Pels could package these picks to get another guy or just use them on young talent to add to their core.
Let’s say for the sake of argument that the Pelicans take someone like Onyeka Okongwu with the 6th pick and someone like Saddiq Bey with the 13th pick.
They are now deep, young, super talented, and have a ton of potential trades.
PG: Lonzo Ball
SG: Josh Hart/Kevin Huerter
SF: Brandon Ingram/Taurean Prince/Saddiq Bey
PF: Zion Williamson/Onyeka Okongwu/Nicolo Melli
C: Serge Ibaka/Dewayne Dedmon/Jaxson Hayes
This is a team you can go to war with, as they have the right combination of length, youth, veteran toughness and defense to take on just about anyone.
This would also give the Pels a surplus at several positions, opening up potential trades for Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Nicolo Melli and Jaxson Hayes.
All three could net assets, so the haul just keeps coming.
New Orleans Pelicans: The real value of Jrue Holiday in a trade
The Final Holiday Haul
If you are keeping track at home, the Pelicans were able to net Kevin Huerter, Taurean Prince, Saddiq Bey, Onyeka Okongwu, Serge Ibaka and Dewayne Dedmon by trading Jrue Holiday and J.J. Redick.
In addition, they’d have trades to make with NAW, Melli and Hayes that would allow them to get a backup point guard or additional assets.
The Jrue Holiday trade is the gift that keeps on giving. This is just a hypothetical of course, but it shows what the Pelicans might be able to do just by moving one guy and clearing up some cap space.
They could put themselves in a position to be good now and set themselves up for the future with young, talented players that fit the timeline of Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram.
If the Pelicans work this right, they can fill all of the holes in their roster with quality players, take on young talent and still have more cap space than they will this offseason if they just extend B.I. and do nothing else.
Jrue Holiday is a fan favorite and the face of the franchise, so no one wants to see him go, but trading him may be the best way to build a deep, competitive roster.