Days before the NBA lifts the moratorium for trades, rumors have circulated that the New Orleans Pelicans are actively engaging in trade talks involving Jrue Holiday. As of now, several contenders who want to boost their chances of winning the NBA championship title next year have already expressed interest in acquiring Holiday. One of the most intriguing trade partners for New Orleans in the potential deal involving their veteran point guard is the Portland Trail Blazers.
In a recent article, Sean Highkin of Bleacher Report created a list of trade packages and landing spots for Holiday this fall. In the proposed scenario involving the Trail Blazers, the Pelicans would be sending Holiday to Portland in exchange for CJ McCollum. If the deal becomes a reality, Highkin believes it would help both teams in filling up their needs to improve on their roster.
“This would be a one-for-one swap that gives New Orleans a scoring upgrade and Portland a defensive boost. McCollum has plenty of experience playing off the ball with Damian Lillard. He can also create at the point, so he could either play with Lonzo Ball or run the offense when Ball is out. Portland had the fourth-worst defense in the league this season, per NBA.com. That wasn’t entirely the fault of Lillard and McCollum, but that backcourt has never been great defensively. Holiday would help there without much of a drop-off on the offensive end.”
The suggested deal would be worth exploring for the Trail Blazers, especially if they want to see a different result in the 2020-21 NBA season. Holiday may not be as good as McCollum on the offensive end of the floor, but he’s still a reliable scoring option who could provide the Trail Blazers the much-needed improvement on the opposite end. His arrival in Portland could help them boost their defensive efficiency that ranks No. 27 in the league, allowing 111.8 points per 100 possessions, per ESPN .
If Holiday struggles to make himself fit in Portland, the Trail Blazers could simply let him walk away next offseason and use the salary cap space to find Lillard’s new superstar running mate in the 2021 free agency.
Meanwhile, the proposed scenario would be a no-brainer for the Pelicans. Instead of losing Holiday as an unrestricted free agent without getting anything in return, they would be turning his expiring contract into a younger All-Star who is under contract until the 2023-24 NBA season. McCollum would be a better fit for the Pelicans’ young core of Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Zion Williamson.
Sharing the backcourt with a natural shooting guard like McCollum would help Ball unleash his full potential. With his ability to excel in an off-ball capacity, Ingram and Williamson wouldn’t be needing to sacrifice ball touches to accommodate McCollum on their roster. If McCollum, Ball, Ingram, and Williamson mesh well on the court, the Pelicans would become a team to watch out for in the loaded Western Conference next year.