New Orleans Pelicans Rumors: Shopping Jrue Holiday makes sense

New Orleans Pelicans trade rumors: Trading Holiday clears cap space

The Salary Cap and Lonzo Ball

As I stated previously, trading Jrue Holiday is a way to clear some cap space.

If they were to trade him to a team that can absorb his contract without sending equal contracts back, the Pels could potentially pick up some talent and clear cap space at the same time.

This is important, as the Pelicans are trying to max Ingram this offseason, and potentially Lonzo Ball in the next. If the Pels think they are going to build around this “Big 3,” then they almost have to trade Holiday to make it work.

This is especially true if the Pels want to keep Josh Hart, who is also due for a big raise next offseason. Would you rather have Lonzo and Hart or Jrue Holiday? That is really what the Pelicans are looking at.

With the extension of Zion Williamson, which could be the largest contract in the NBA, the Pelicans are looking at three max contracts, which is about all any team can afford.

The Pels could potentially build a roster that looks 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 is a lot more versatile, talented and deep than the roster as currently constructed. This is just a hypothetical of course but the lineup above or one similar is possible if the Pelicans trade Jrue Holiday.

No one wants to see Holiday leave but if the Pels can get significantly better and clear future cap space, they have to do it.