NBA Rumors: Nuggets Could Acquire Jrue Holiday For Harris, Beasley, Porter Jr., And Hernangomez
The New Orleans Pelicans may have made several changes in their front office, but they are still highly expected to find a trade for All-Star center Anthony Davis in the 2019 NBA offseason. A successful Davis trade means that the Pelicans are heading into a full-scale rebuild, opening up the possibility that they may also consider looking for a trade partner for veteran point guard Jrue Holiday, who is under contract until the 2021-22 NBA season.
Despite the rumors about Anthony Davis’ nearing departure from New Orleans, Jrue Holiday still expressed his desire to be part of the Pelicans’ long-term future. However, at this point in his NBA career, the 28-year-old point guard will be better off joining a team where he can contend for the NBA championship title than being part of a rebuilding process. Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report listed Holiday as one of the NBA superstars who needed to be rescued from his current team and suggested the Denver Nuggets as an ideal trade destination.
In the proposed trade deal by Bleacher Report, the Nuggets will be sending Gary Harris, Malik Beasley, Michael Porter Jr., and Juancho Hernangomez to the Pelicans in exchange for Jrue Holiday. The deal works on ESPN‘s NBA Trade Machine.
“Let’s say the skeptics’ concerns are validated by a Nuggets playoff disappointment—one that suggests failure is the result of systemic flaws rather than the missteps of youth. If it appears Nikola Jokic can’t engineer offense on his own and that Denver won’t get star-level results from Jamal Murray and Gary Harris, Holiday makes sense as a veteran infusion of toughness, defense and demonstrated playoff success. It’ll be a long time before anyone forgets how he was clearly the best guard in the 2018 playoff series that resulted in a sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers, who happened to have Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.”
David Griffin, the Pelicans VP of basketball operations, was introduced this week.
He made a few points about Anthony Davis, Alvin Gentry and Jrue Holiday that could have league-wide ramifications.
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— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) April 20, 2019
The Nuggets may have finished the regular season with the second-best record in the deep Western Conference, but most people still don’t consider them a legitimate threat to the reigning NBA champions, Golden State Warriors. If they fail at least make it to the Western Conference Finals, the Nuggets should consider surrounding Nikola Jokic with more experienced players wherein trading for Jrue Holiday makes a lot of sense. Holiday is battle-tested and has already proven his ability to step up in crucial situations.
In 67 games he played this season, Jrue Holiday averaged 21.2 points, 7.7 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.6 steals on 47.2 percent shooting from the field and 32.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc. The potential core of Holiday, Jamal Murray, Paul Millsap, and Nikola Jokic will undeniably make the Nuggets a more competitive team in the 2019-20 NBA season.
The deal will not only be beneficial for the Nuggets but also for the Pelicans. In exchange for Jrue Holiday, the Pelicans will be having four young and talented players whom they can mold into legitimate NBA superstars in the league. Combining the trade assets they will get from trading Holiday and Anthony Davis will help the Pelicans speed up the rebuilding process.
