Do the New Orleans Pelicans regret trading Jrue Holiday?
The New Orleans Pelicans are now nearly a year removed from the Jrue Holiday trade, which seems like a good time to look back.
The Pels traded their franchise icon (who I believe should have his number retired) for Eric Bledsoe, two future first-round draft picks and two future draft swaps.
The Pelicans are now sitting on a ton of future draft picks and young talent, but they finished 11th in the Western Conference last season and there is debate about whether they have improved.
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Meanwhile, Jrue Holiday and the Milwaukee Bucks won the title, with Holiday making the first team All-Defense and playing a key role in their championship run.
He signed a max extension to stay with the Bucks and there is a strong argument that contract should have been with the New Orleans Pelicans.
New Orleans Pelicans: Jrue Holiday wanted to be traded
It would be unfair to judge the Jrue Holiday trade in a vacuum, as the star guard wanted to be moved to a team that was chasing titles, not the 8th seed.
There is a strong possibility that he wouldn’t have re-signed with the team anyway, so David Griffin didn’t have a whole lot of options other than to trade him.
But after what we saw this year, and the way the roster is constructed now, it would be nice to still have Jrue Holiday as a part of it.
The Pelicans defense is still terrible and they still lack a reliable third scoring option, two areas where Holiday definitely could have helped.
They also lack a veteran leader and could use his voice in the locker room. It’s safe to say that Jrue Holiday is an even better fit now than he was in his final season with the Pelicans, as the Pels are in a better position to compete with a roster more suited for Zion Williamson‘s skills.
Not having Holiday is one thing, but they haven’t done much to replace him ever since he was traded away.