New Orleans Pelicans: Grades for Jrue Holiday trade to Milwaukee Bucks
The New Orleans Pelicans traded Jrue Holiday to the Bucks for a package of players and picks.
The New Orleans Pelicans have moved on from guard Jrue Holiday, sending him to the Milwaukee Bucks for a package that includes Eric Bledsoe, George Hill and a bunch of draft picks.
The news broke late last night, as the Milwaukee Bucks made their best effort to appease MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has to be happy about the news.
Not only did the Bucks land Jrue Holiday without giving up one of their core players but they weren’t done making moves:
New Orleans is nearing completion of a deal to send G Jrue Holiday to Milwaukee for Eric Bledsoe, George Hill and what's described as "significant" draft compensation, sources tell ESPN. Teams are still working through the picks in trade.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 17, 2020
The draft compensation will reportedly include three first-round picks plus two future pick swaps, not unlike the package of picks the Pelicans were able to get in the Anthony Davis trade.
But the Bucks weren’t done there. According to Wojnarowski, the Bucks are also sending three players to Sacramento in a sign-and-trade for Bogdan Bogdanovic.
The Bucks are obviously desperate to re-sign Giannis, so these moves make sense, as they make the Bucks a lot better now in exchange for bunch of role players and future picks.
The Bucks now have arguably the best starting lineup in the NBA and have to be favorites to win the Eastern Conference, if not the NBA championship.
But what about the Pelicans? There were reportedly at least ten teams who had expressed some level of interest in Jrue Holiday, so did the Pelicans make the right call?
I’ll break the grades into three parts: the players, the picks and what it does to the present/future of the New Orleans Pelicans.