The Pelicans are open to trading Jrue Holiday, something the LA Clippers should explore.
This shortened offseason is going to be an interesting one. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the New Orleans Pelicans are openly discussing trading All-Star Jrue Holiday with several contenders. Hopefully, the LA Clippers are one of those teams.
Holiday is the ideal fit for this Clippers team, one that desperately needs another playmaker on the roster. He averages 6.4 assists per game over his career and is an excellent defender. On top of that, he can score at multiple levels. This season, he averaged 19.2 points per game on 45.5% shooting, including 35.5% from deep on nearly six attempts per game. At 30 years old, he still has a few good seasons left in him. It’s his age that makes New Orleans shopping him make sense.
Their roster is young and looking to build around Zion Williamson. It’s this fact that also means the Clippers might have a tough time putting together the right trade package for Holiday.
The New Orleans Pelicans are openly discussing star Jrue Holiday in trade talks and several contending teams are pursuing, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 4, 2020
Likely trade packages would have to involve several players from the Clippers in order to make salaries match. Holiday is set to make $25 million next season, so reaching that point would be difficult. There’s always the option of getting a third team involved in trade talks but with the Clippers not having a ton of assets, the third party team would have to get something beneficial to them.
It will be interesting to see what other contenders have interest in Holiday. The Bucks could be one as they look to make a big move to add another star to their roster in hopes to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo happy. The Lakers could be another as they try and repeat this upcoming season.
While putting up competing offers with other teams will be tough, the LA Clippers should absolutely explore trying to get Holiday. He would fill a big need on the team and is the exact type of player that would work alongside both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
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