The New Orleans Pelicans should involve the New York Knicks in a trade with the Golden State Warriors.
The New Orleans Pelicans don’t have to make a trade, but it might benefit them to move on from fan-favorite Jrue Holiday.
This really has nothing to do with Holiday as a player, but his contract doesn’t necessarily match up with the contractual timelines of Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Zion Williamson.
It is possible that the New Orleans Pelicans can keep them all, but more than likely one of the four will have to be traded in order to keep the core intact for the long-term. Being that he is 30-years-old and making $27 million, Holiday seems like the prime candidate.
Holiday will also net the most in a trade, as there are several contending teams, including the Warriors, Clippers and Nuggets, who would love to add a proven piece like Jrue Holiday.
The problem for the Pelicans is that to trade Holiday they either need to find a team with cap space who can absorb his contract without sending a big one back, or take back the equivalent in money.
Most of the contending teams don’t have such a contract, and if they do, it’s not one the Pelicans would necessarily want to take back.
This is why the New Orleans Pelicans might need to involve a third team, a team with the cap space to take the contract they don’t want in exchange for an asset.
The New York Knicks could be the perfect team.
Here is a trade for Jrue Holiday that would allow the Pelicans to get the assets they want without taking on additional years or bad contracts to do it.
New Orleans Pelicans: 3 team trade with Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks
If the New Orleans Pelicans could trade Jrue Holiday, grab a couple of useful players, a future pick and not take on any long-term salary, that would be ideal.
The Golden State Warriors have been the team most rumored to be pursuing Jrue Holiday in a trade. The trade most often rumored would send Andrew Wiggins and the #2 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft to the Pelicans in exchange for Holiday.
On the surface this seems like a fair trade. The Pelicans get a wing, which they need, a pick they can use on LaMelo Ball or James Wiseman and the Warriors get their fourth piece.
The problem is that the Pelicans would be taking on long-term money in Wiggins. He is signed through 2022-23 and will be making $33 million in the final season of his contract.
The Pelicans would be right back where they started, as the problem with Holiday is his future money. The Pels need to find a way to get those assets without taking on that extra year of Wiggins.
Enter the New York Knicks.
This would be a blockbuster to say the least and one that has some benefit to all three teams.
Let’s take a look at how this would help all three and whether the New Orleans Pelicans would consider it.
New Orleans Pelicans send Jrue Holiday to the Golden State Warriors
Why Golden State would do it
The Golden State Warriors don’t have any time to waste. Their window to win titles is now, so they are not looking to add rookies to their roster, they need proven players.
Holiday is a nice fit on their roster because of his defensive versatility. He can defend 1-3 which would give the Warriors a formidable defense on the perimeter with Klay Thompson, who is also a plus-defender.
The Warriors are all on the wrong side of 30 and they have limited chances to win another title with the Splash Brothers and Draymond Green, so they are likely to push all their chips into the center of the table to bring home another title.
With few big-name free agents and no cap space, the only way the Warriors are going to add another piece is by using their #2 pick in a trade.
They also add a low-risk wildcard in Darius Miller, a guy who can knock down the 3-point shot when healthy and would give the Warriors some more depth on their bench.
This is definitely a risky move for Golden State, but they don’t really have much choice. The #2 pick in this draft is not going to make the impact that Jrue Holiday can, and the Warriors don’t seem too high on the fit with Wiggins.
If they can get a proven All-Star and All-Defensive player AND get out of Wiggins’ contract, I think the Warriors would be happy. They’d have two seasons to win titles with Jrue and then he’d be off the books.
The Warriors could go to war with this foursome and would have more financial flexibility in the future.
New Orleans Pelicans: Trade with New York Knicks helps both teams
Why the Knicks would do it
The Knicks are basically playing middle man in this trade, allowing the Pelicans to unload Jrue Holiday without taking on any long-term money.
So why would they do it?
Firstly, the Knicks need wings and Wiggins is not a bad one. He hasn’t lived up to the hype, but he is still a 20 point per game scorer and only 25-years-old.
The Knicks have the cap space to absorb his contract straight up, but by moving Julius Randle and Taj Gibson, they free up a ton of future cap space that they can use to try and lure a big named free agent to New York (good luck with that one).
For their troubles they get back the 13th pick in the draft and can now start their rebuild in earnest around RJ Barrett, Wiggins and two lottery picks.
This would be a no-brainer for the Knicks in my opinion, as they are going nowhere anyway, so taking on Wiggins’ contract is not a big risk, especially if he improves defensively. They’d have two wings to build around, two lottery picks and more cap space.
If the Knicks were offered this deal they’d probably take it before the other two teams left the room.
The question is whether the Pelicans would even be in the room.
New Orleans Pelicans: Benefits of trading Jrue Holiday to the Golden State Warriors
In this trade, the Pelicans are able to unload Holiday for two useful players that fill needs, get the second pick in the draft and nab a future pick that might be just as valuable.
Getting back two players like Taj Gibson and Julius Randle may not seem like the ideal haul, but the Pels would also be getting two very valuable picks.
Gibson is 35-years-old and the Knicks would have to pick up his option to make this work, so he is not an ideal piece. However, he is still a serviceable big who can defend multiple spots and gives the Pelicans some veteran toughness and depth off the bench, which they lack.
Randle is a beast in the post but doesn’t do much else, so he is somewhat redundant with Zion, but would add scoring punch off the bench and could even be a part of small ball lineups with Zion. In his one season with the Pelicans, Randle shot 34.4 percent from 3-point range on 2.7 attempts per game, so there is a chance he will be able to stretch the floor.
Randle adds some size and toughness to a team that desperately needs it and gives them a legit and consistent scoring option off the bench. He is also good insurance against another Zion Williamson injury, which obviously cannot be ruled out or taken lightly.
With the #2 pick the Pelicans could go a lot of directions, either uniting the Ball Brothers or taking a guy like James Wiseman, who would shore up the defense and give them their center of the future.
Both Gibson and Randle only have one more year on their contracts, so the Pelicans would be getting a massive amount of cap space in 2021, just in time to sign an impact free agent.
The real kicker is the future pick, as the Pelicans could sneakily grab another first-rounder from Golden State, who has Minnesota’s pick next year which is top-3 protected.
Minnesota probably won’t be good for a while, so this could end up being a top-ten pick for the Pelicans in a stronger draft.
Two useful players and two top-ten draft picks is a good haul for Holiday, not to mention the gobs of future cap space they can use to retain Lonzo and Zion, plus add another big free agent.
If the New Orleans Pelicans got this call they’d at least have to listen, as it gives them assets to help win now and in the future while clearing up a lot of money.