New Orleans Pelicans rumors: Trading Jrue Holiday to Celtics for Hayward

2 of 3

Jrue Holiday #11 of the New Orleans Pelicans could be a trade target of the Boston Celtics (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

New Orleans Pelicans trade rumors: Sending Jrue Holiday to the Celtics

Why the Celtics would do it

The Boston Celtics have already seen what the ceiling of their current team is and that is roughly the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Celtics were on the verge last season but they lacked another scoring option and Jrue Holiday could be that option.

With Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the Celtics are already loaded at wing and Hayward is a bit of a luxury item.

Pairing Holiday with Kemba Walker would give the Celtics one of the best backcourts in the NBA, and when you factor in Marcus Smart, one of the best defenses as well.

This trade would not only give the Celtics another scoring option and a very good defender, but they would clear some cap space this season that they could potentially use on a free-agent big to shore up their interior.

Hayward and Holiday are both very good players but Holiday is a better defender, scorer and playmaker, which are all things the Celtics lacked in the playoffs.

They would get out from under Hayward’s contract, get a better player in return and it costs them nothing but a bunch of draft picks they don’t want anyway. This sounds like a no-brainer for the Celtics.

But what about the Pelicans?