NBA Rumors: Jrue Holiday Trade Could Give Heat ‘Ticket Out Of The East,’ Per ‘Bleacher Report’
The Miami Heat put themselves in a win-now mode after successfully acquiring Jimmy Butler in the 2019 NBA free agency. However, while they are currently establishing an impressive performance and surpassing the expectations from them in the 2019-20 NBA season, most people believe that the Heat still need additional star power in order to have a realistic chance of fully dominating the Eastern Conference and winning the 2020 NBA championship. In the past months, several NBA superstars who are or will be available on the trade market have already been linked to the Heat, including Jrue Holiday of the New Orleans Pelicans.
According to Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report, the Heat would be the ideal landing spot for Holiday before the 2020 February NBA trade deadline. Though the Pelicans have already signalled their intention to keep Holiday for the remainder of the 2019-20 NBA season, most people believe that the veteran point guard is better off being traded to a legitimate contender like the Heat than wasting his prime mentoring young players on a rebuilding team.
Holiday would be an incredible addition to the Heat, giving them an All-Star caliber point guard and a second superstar alongside Butler. This season, the 29-year-old floor general is averaging 20.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and 1.7 steals while shooting 44.5 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from beyond the arc. As Buckley noted, the potential acquisition of Holiday would turn the Heat into a “defensive juggernaut” and give them the “ticket out of the East.”
“The Heat aren’t a defensive juggernaut (14th), but they could reach that level with Holiday. He can lock up players one-on-one, and he can switch perimeter assignments without missing a beat. His anticipation is incredible, his fuel supply is endless and he shaves a whopping 5.2 points off his opponents’ field-goal percentage. On offense, he cycles through roles as No. 1 scorer, primary distributor and off-ball shooter. He’s an 89th percentile isolation scorer but also a 35.6 percent catch-and-shoot three-point splasher. If Miami grabbed Holiday, it would have a co-star for Butler and perhaps a ticket out of the East.”
However, bringing Holiday to South Beach won’t be easy for the Heat. As of now, the Pelicans still haven’t shown any sign that they are planning to move Holiday before the 2020 February NBA trade deadline, but, even if they change their mind, it would likely require the Heat to sacrifice plenty of valuable trade assets to convince New Orleans to make a deal. In the potential deal involving Holiday, the Heat would be needing to include at least one of Tyler Herro, Kendrick Nunn, and Bam Adebayo in the trade package, together with future draft picks.
