New Orleans Pelicans Rumors: Trading Jrue Holiday to the Atlanta Hawks
The latest Jrue Holiday trade rumor has the New Orleans Pelicans dealing with the Atlanta Hawks.
The New Orleans Pelicans have been busy since it was reported that they were shopping Jrue Holiday in a trade.
Just about every contender is rumored to be in on the pursuit, which leaves the Pelicans with a lot of tantalizing options.
The Nuggets, Nets, Clippers, Heat and Pacers are all in the hunt for Holiday but recently another team was added to the rumor mill by NBA insider Marc Stein:
The Hawks have emerged as a potential trade destination for New Orleans' Jrue Holiday in multi-team trade scenarios that would involve Atlanta's No. 6 pick in next week's draft, league sources say
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) November 11, 2020
We’ve discussed the Atlanta possibility a number of times, and I have long said it is one of my favorite destinations for Holiday, as it could potentially allow the Pelicans to build a juggernaut.
Now that the salary cap numbers have been released, the writing is pretty much on the wall for Jrue Holiday in New Orleans.
The Pelicans would have to go over the cap just to give Brandon Ingram a max contract extension (which they totally can) and would have nothing left to fill out their roster other than four picks in what is widely considered a weak draft.
The best-case scenario for the Pels is trading Holiday to a team with cap space so that they don’t have to take on any extra salary.
That is why the Atlanta Hawks make sense, as they have more cap space than any other team.
If they can plug a couple of holes with young players, add more draft assets to their coffers and free up some cap space, that would be the ideal trade for the New Orleans Pelicans.
Here are two possible trades with Atlanta, a straight-up two teamer and one that brings in a third contender.