LA Clippers: Why a Jrue Holiday Trade Likely Won’t Happen
Despite his perfect fit with the team, it’s going to be difficult for the LA Clippers to make a trade for the Pelicans’ star PG Jrue Holiday.
It was recently reported that the Pelicans are fielding trade talks for Jrue Holiday. Naturally, fans of the LA Clippers immediately started putting together trade packages that could land Holiday with us.
It makes sense that everybody got excited. Jrue is the perfect complementary piece; he’s one of the best defenders at the 1, if not the best, he can initiate an offense, he can make shots and he can play off ball. What’s not to love?
We should temper our expectations, though. It’s going to be really hard, if not impossible, for the LA Clippers to get Jrue onto the team. Unless the Pelicans have an extremely high evaluation of one of the young players on the Clippers, the assets just probably aren’t there.
When we talked about what the Clippers could offer for Holiday, the most likely offer was Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams and Landry Shamet. Maybe throw in a Kabengele or Mann if it helped.
But really, is that a competitive offer for the Pelicans? For a team that wants to win now, sure, Bev and Lou are a big help.
But the Pels aren’t looking to win right now. By the time they’re hoping to contend – in a few years, at least – Lou Williams will almost certainly not be playing anymore, and Patrick Beverley will be in his mid-30s. So then you’re looking at Shamet and Fi/Mann being the only remainders from the trade when the Pels are ready to try to win.
When you compare that to other packages that may be offered, it’s just tough to compete. If the Warriors decide they want Jrue, they could dangle the number 2 pick. The Nuggets could build an MPJ/Harris package if they’d like. The Nets could do Dinwiddie and LeVert.
Maybe those teams don’t all want to trade for Jrue. But the point is, there’s several teams that can put together a much better package than the Clippers can. This was effectively the point that Zach Lowe recently made on his podcast with Bobby Marks.
Don’t get me wrong. Jrue would be a fantastic addition to the team, and it’s very worth the Clippers pursuing him. But when it comes down to comparing trade packages, it’s hard to see how the Clips don’t get outbid.
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What do you think? Will the Clippers be able to pull off a deal for Jrue? Let us know on Twitter, and keep posted here for all things LA Clippers!