New Orleans Pelicans: Grades for Jrue Holiday trade to Milwaukee Bucks
New Orleans Pelicans: Eric Bledsoe and George Hill are competent veterans
The Players
The New Orleans Pelicans shocked some (me) by trading with the Bucks. After all, the Bucks didn’t have a great stockpile of young talent and their draft picks are all going to be in high 20’s as long as they have Giannis.
I believe the Pelicans could have gotten back a much more compelling player or players from another team, as neither Eric Bledsoe or George Hill are going to move the needle much, though they will improve the Pels’ overall depth.
Eric Bledsoe is basically just a worse version of Jrue Holiday. He is slightly older than Jrue, slightly shorter, isn’t as good a defender, playmaker or scorer. The two shoot similarly from 3-point range and Bledsoe is a better free-throw shooter, but other than that, he is worse than Jrue Holiday in every measurable way.
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Bledsoe also has an additional year on his contract, a partially guaranteed $19 million in 2022-23 when he’ll be 33-years-old. Not great.
George Hill also has a contract that runs through 2022-23, though like Bledsoe, it is only partially guaranteed at $10 million.
Hill is a valuable role player, even at age 34, as he can still run the point off the bench and led the league in 3-point percentage last season.
Hill adds another elite shooting option to the Pelicans’ bench and should be an improvement at the back up point guard position.
Both players are on the wrong side of 30 and aren’t cheap. They also add to the Pelicans’ plethora of guards, as they still have Lonzo Ball, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, J.J. Redick and Josh Hart under contract.
The Pels still need depth at both forward positions and a center, and this trade did nothing to address those holes. They also potentially took on an extra year of salary.
Overall, I am not thrilled with these players, as neither is going to be part of the Pels’ core moving forward and don’t address their biggest needs. The Pelicans are still too small and still have too many guards.