We all want to be able to predict the future, but isn’t it so much more fun when we can’t? The day started off with most of us thinking that Trey Burke would be the point guard of the future. Instead, Jrue Holiday will be the point guard of the present AND the future. The exact trade is as follows:
The Pelicans will send Nerlens Noel and our 2014 1st round pick (top-5 protected) to Philadelphia for Jrue Holiday and the 42nd pick in the 2013 NBA draft.
Holliday, an All-Star for the first time last year, will step right in and run the offense while simultaneously leading the attack on the defensive end. Last season, Holiday had career highs in points (17.7) and assists (8.0), while also defending multiple positions for the 76ers. With the basics all laid out, let’s go a little deeper into this trade and what it means for the Pelicans.
Holiday’s Strengths and Weakness
Before Doug Collins threw his players under the bus and the wheels came off of the Philadelphia 76ers bus, Holiday was arguably a top 5 point guard in the league. Holiday is a quick point guard who is deceptively strong and can get to the bucket at will. He was well above average in both the pick and roll and in isolation, and was even more impressive as a spot up shooter, where he shot 48% from three. He also did some work down in the post.
Defensively, he defended shooting guards quite a bit, but primarily was used to pressure the ball. He has tremendous length (6’4″ with a 6’7″ wingspan) and agility. He is also tremendously active off the ball and understands how to make rotations and jump passing lanes. Coming out of UCLA, having played for Ben Howland, his defensive IQ is high for a young player. Dell and Monty wanted a point guard who can pressure the point of attack. Jrue Holiday fits that profile.
The 2014 Pick
If you are familiar with my work, you know that I have been advocating that the Pelicans trade this pick at its peak value. Dell Demps did that tonight. The pick is top 5 protected and Dell believes we will be competing for a playoff spot tomorrow. The good news is that even if he is wrong and we miss the playoffs but get super lucky in the lottery, we will keep the pick. You have the chance to trade the 6th pick in a weak draft and, let’s say, the 12th pick in a supposedly strong but unknown draft for a young All-Star who hasn’t even hit his prime, you do it EVERY SINGLE TIME!
Greivis Vasquez
It seems like the writing is on the wall. Vasquez has to be moved. Or does he? Dell Demps was very open last season, saying that he can see Vasquez playing SF for us. Why can’t he be a do-it-all backup, giving us minutes at PG, SG, and SF? Is it likely? No. Is it a viable option? Yes.
Cap Space
Basically, this deal brings us close to the cap, but there is still some wiggle move, as Vasquez could be moved and Lopez could be used as a sign and trade as well. Or the Pelicans now have the option to allow cap holds to remain on the books and use the MLE. For instance, they can keep Aminu’s cap hold on the books, use their MLE, and then come back and re-sign Aminu if they would like. We will have a full breakdown of this this weekend, prior to the start of free agency.
We will obviously have more on this, including a full scouting report tomorrow. For now, tell us how you feel.
[polldaddy poll=7211531]
149 responses to “New Orleans Pelicans Make Blockbuster Trade for All-Star Jrue Holiday”
I wanted them to traded for a young vet and we got an all-star point guard with a crazy wingspan for his size. Noel was nice but this is much better, no adjustments to the NBA game with this pick trade.
I’m seeing on Twitter than not all writers on this site agree with your assessment. I love it. I don’t have confidence in Noel and Davis being able to play together and Holiday will only get better.
Holiday has 1 improved season out of 4. What suggests he will get better? He still turns the ball over and takes bad early shot clock jumpers.
You’re annoying – take a break we get that you hate the trade.
This a forum chief. If you’re annoyed, log off. Problem solved.
It would help if the most repetitive and outspoken poster (you) had any clue about what he is talking about. “Chief”.
The Pelicans just became better this evening. Anthony Davis will be improved with a year under his belt. Ryan Anderson will be doing his thing. I really like Vasquez manning the second unit. I hope the Eric Gordon situation is resolved, and if Dell commits to him, hopefully he will be 100% for a full season. And hopefully they can sign some veteran leadership to change the culture in the locker room. But we took a huge step tonight. Jrue Holiday was better than anything I could have expected.
I guess the Pels are “all in” now. Demps traded flexibility and depth for impact. Titles can be born of such boldness … but recent NBA history shows mediocrity is more likely. I worry about the SF position.
We can’t even address it via free agency or the ’14 draft as of now.
Grade A no doubt. Mason, you’ve been tweeting that you’re unhappy because you think we’ll be stuck in no man’s land. Holiday is only 23! Basically a senior if he was in this draft! He has not reached his full potential yet. We are in win now mode AND will get better in the future witb our young core. I love this trade.
Holiday has been in the league for 4 years on a bad team and he STRUGGLED. Why are you so impressed?
yaboytonez Do you mean he struggled as an individual or as a team? I don’t know how in the world you can justify the claim as an individual, as he won the most-improved player award, displaying his willingness to improve and made an all-star team. You say he was on a bad team, and others talk about his PER. His PER took a shot because he was asked to do so much for his team. He was the focus of opposing defenses yet averaged 17.7ppg and 8apg. Is it insane to think he will fare better playing with Gordon, Davis, and Anderson rather than Evan Turner, Thaddeus Young, and Spencer Hawes? You act like players max out after 4 years in the league. HE IS 23 YEARS OLD
He played 4 years. Struggled the first 3 and had a 21 ranked PER in his “breakout season”. How is that worth two 1st round picks and all of our cap space $
yaboytonez He’s making around 9 mil, that’s not all of our cap space. He’s better than any free agent we have any realistic shot at signing, especially at that price range. Please, I’d like to hear you name a better free agent we could’ve signed for that price and especially at that age.
Um any player on the list for the simple fact we wouldn’t have surrendered two 1st rounders & cap space. It would have only been cap space allowing us to build around the free agent instead of not being able to build at all. He will want a new deal, he just became an all star.
yaboytonez Holiday is locked in for the next 4 years, Philly signed him prior to the start of last season. If he plays out his contract like the great player he showed he can be, I would be fine with paying him the max if he’s worth it. Small market teams like the Pelicans need to be clever about added talent through trades. New Orleans isn’t exactly an enticing location for a star free agent. Just because we have cap space, you can’t bank on a guy signing with us. This trade will help establish a winning culture in New Orleans, making it a better landing spot for future free agents, and more importantly, making the players we already have more experienced in say… playoff situations. “Not being able to build at all”??? Our core players are 20,23,23,and 24 years old, what are you talking about?
Because you arent a magnet for FA your draft picks have to be relatively more valuable to you, not less. I think Holiday has 3 years left on his extension doesn’t he?
hewhorocks If we were in the same rebuilding stage as a team like the Suns, then you make a point about the picks, but we were fortunate enough to have drafted our franchise cornerstone last year, and now it’s about putting the right talent around him, and when you can get a young all-star for unproven draft picks, you do it every time. It’s hard to imagine any of those picks being better than Holiday anyway, it’s not like there was a good chance of us being a bottom-3 team anyway.
The “cornerstone” likely will not be in his prime for another 4 years. History says the Pel’s shouldnt be thinking about putting the all-stars around him now, but thinking about what the team will be in 2018-19. I dont think New Orleans has the assets to surround him with enough great players to bring them into contention in the next couple of years and so I think a longer term solution is called for.
hewhorocks Why do you think Holiday will just play his contract out? He’s our point guard of the future. He too won’t reach his prime for another 4 years. Being young AND an all-star is just a huge bonus.
hewhorocks building for 2018-2019? So you think we just need to tank for the next 4 to 5 years? No way in hell.
The “building” that we will be doing will be our young core of Davis, Holiday, Anderson, and maybe Gordon playing together. Failing together, learning together, and improving together. Internal building is the best form of building.
Not tank but build a contender. Get players who will be hitting their prime at the same time as Davis. Being a team whose ceiling is the second round of the playoffs
eMariii123 Agreed! We have too good of a team to try and tank. Like Gerry V said, if you tank and tank and tank, year after year, none of your players develop-4 years have gone by, and you are right back where you started.
DEALLLLER DEEELLLLLLL , We was all like ” we need a point guard ” , Dell was all like ” that shits going down TONIGHT ”
this is gonna be a fun off season
Doesn’t anybody have a problem with the fact that Holiday had the 21st overall PER for PG’s last year? Vasquez was 26th, 16.74 to 16.34….not a huge upgrade
revdrbflow Defensive upgrade. I will take that.
Major504 revdrbflow Defensive upgrade worth 2 first round picks?
revdrbflow Major504 I guess you expect a losing season again? And yes I think it was worth it to me. It’s a protected pick, so when we make the playoffs that pick won’t matter much.
Major504 revdrbflow I worry more about bringing on the salary for a modest upgrade. That $10 million/salary could have been a SF, or half CP3 or Dwight Howard, or to take on an expiring contract plus assets.
revdrbflow Major504 Just think about now Vasquez developed this past season 2nd in MOP. Now think about a more athletic player developing in that same system, that has sent players all over the NBA in a starting or supporting role on playoff teams. And there are decent SFs we can get and Cs. Free agents, trades, sign and trade. Small piece to a outstanding puzzle.
Major504 revdrbflow
Jrue is an allstar who just turned 23 and can penetrate, and even keep his guy in front of him sometimes. Vasquez is 26 …almost most improved , seems to be unable to penetrate and can’t keep anyone in front of him. I guess what I’m saying is no , I don’t have a problem with the PER thing
chiefyoungblood Major504 revdrbflow I agree his PER is from when he was with the sixers. He is a Pelican now, that’s all that matters to me.
I think the Pel’s got a good player. I think they paid too much for him in terms of the assets that they have.I dont mind grabbing a PG but your paying a lot in terms of picks. It still doesn’t do anything to address the problems at the 3 (and 2 if EG plays like the player last 2 years have shown him to be.)
Very small upgrade.
isn’t there some rule about trading 1st round picks in consecutive drafts/
Grade D, Pelicans got the 21st overall PG in the league in terms of PER from last year, are paying him like he’s the 2nd best player on the team, gave up their cap space, and all of their really good assets. Vasquez and Lopez are decent pieces because they’re inexpensive, solid players, but they won’t bring in someone good enough to elevate this team to championship contender, and outside of player development, there is no other way to improve this team except for trades.
Right, this was not a good trade.
Bad trade IMO. Holiday is a turnover machine, has bad shot selection, and had a 48%TS which is one the lowest in the league. He is not worth 2 1st rounders.
yaboytonez Agreed, they’ve locked themselves largely into this current lineup. Without totally gutting your depth, you’re not going to be able to trade for anything, and even if you do gut your depth by giving up Lopez, Vasquez, etc., what are you getting for that?
Nothing. I don’t see us getting Davis any frontcourt help.
We now have 2 guards in our back court that can avg 17 ast. he can lock up and who cares about a draft pick that wont be in the lottery. with this trade alone we are in the top ten of the west. you all are on drugs.
TristanBisnezzWilliams Top 10 in the West? That sends them right back to the lottery.
revdrbflow TristanBisnezzWilliams but who cares if its pick 10-15. PLUS even if we do suck we still have a top five pick. Great move Dell
You know how many times we picked top 5 the past 13 years? Twice. You confident in those numbers?
yaboytonez Everybody is forgetting that gordon is on da block. the offseason just started. we won this draft hands down. plus we picked up a second rounder.
Did you watch last season? What 2 guards are you speaking of? Can’t be talking about 35 games a year Eric Gordon could you?
yaboytonez holliday and vazquez
I atched watched every game from summer league, preseason and reg. season. I BLEED blue, red, and gold
That’s terrific but don’t be a fool. Vasquez avg 13 & 9 as a STARTER. He will be coming off the bench now.
yaboytonez i really believe that gordon will start the season with us. i think gravy will start at the two
But wouldn’t it be foolish to bench a guy you gave a 4 year 58 mil max contract? He HAS to start.
yaboytonez no i mean that gordon will be traded. he was almost moved for klay thompson at the deadline
If you were going to trade EG for picks or projects you would have drafted Burke. I dont see anyone trading a real difference maker for EG. I think this trade says EG is staying put.
hewhorocks Chicago is looking for a SG and Deng is available because they really like Butler.
If you could make that work trade wise, he’s good player, not someone who is going to be a real difference maker though is he? Do teams playing the bull’s say “We’re not going to let Deng beat us?” not really
hewhorocks At least his contract would be up shortly, giving us cap room again.
hewhorocks no but thats AD’s and Jrue’s job. Think about the leadership, defense, and three point range we would get. Plus he wins at every level. thats what we need WINNERS!
and i thought we will be having a block party in NOLA
I hate this trade for several reasons.
Holiday is an upgrade over Vasquez but is he an upgrade over Burke, 9-10 million dollars and a lottery pick next year? It also seems to signal that the Pel’s want to win 10 more games next year at the cost of 50 more games between 2015~19.
I could see trading for a 3. I could see trading EG to allow Rivers to develop and using the pick to go after a “floor general to develop alongside the youngsters looking to the 2017 season as western contenders. As it stands this looks like “We want to get mediocre in a hurry!”
hewhorocks Off-season has just begun my friend
chiefyoungblood hewhorocks
True enough but I dont think the Pel’s are a SF away. I think it will take our Unibrowed friend 2 more years to “come of age” and in the interim think a 1st rounder in a strong draft would be worth more than Holiday over a developing Burke.
Yeah Davis’ developing window was 3 years draft day.Him and Rivers actually.
hewhorocks chiefyoungblood The pick is Top 5 protected. With the addition of Holliday, its very likely that pick is somewhere between 10 and 16 next year. Next years draft is loaded, but its loaded at the TOP…..not in the late lottery and beyond, which is very likely where we would be picking.
Jrue was 17th in a mediocre draft. There is likely to be assets there if you can identify them. Top 5 protected means if your one of the worst 3 teams we wont take your pick. Well Hornets werent in that category this year, but pretty close. If the Pel’s sniff the playoffs this year then the pick means less. If Burke turns out to be the real deal….ouch.
You are dead on!
I like it but wish we could have gotten the 11th pick instead of the 42nd (duh). Would love to have snagged Shabazz to be a cheaper option than AFA with way more upside.
It would have been great to get the 11th pick.
can these trade be void?ala chandler trade to OKC because of a injury?
Good question.
They need to be approved by the commissioner’s office
I really like this trade and appreciate that the front office is ready to make moves to get the team in a position to win and compete at a high level soon. I take a proven all star caliber player not even in his prime yet over very uncertain draft picks any time. Looking back at old drafts earlier today it is amazing the amount of players end up being role players going from team to team or just plain terrible. The NBA draft is one of the most uncertain things in sports. We went with a sure thing and I really like it.
There are lots of busts and Hindsight is a wonderful tool to highlight them. The problem with that stategy though is your selling all your upside. If you dont have an ability to compete for talent in FA, and sorry the Pel’s dont they will never get better than average.
hewhorocks IDK I like the fact that Jrue and AD will grow together. If gordon is healthy and commited we are WAY better than UTAH,MIN,HOU and POR. (All teams on the rise)
Healthy & Committed is a lot to ask from a guy who hasnt recently shown to be either.
Still I think even firing on all cylinders Houston will be a tough nut to crack if you believe the FA rumors. Min doesnt look good to me, I think the Lakers are in trouble though so the Pel’s will have that.
hewhorocks You right about gordon . cant agree with that
hewhorocks The Pelicans have a very talented young core established with Davis, Holliday, Anderson, and Gordon. We should definitely contend for the playoffs this season. We are probably an impact 3 away from being one of the Top 5 teams in the West.
If Gordon lives up to potential, Davis continues to improve and the Pel’s find an impact 3 I dont think the 5th seed is unreasonable.
Eric Gordon should be in a sign and trade for Al jefferson and we should pursue corey brewer in FA
Now you’re talking.
I love Jrue Holdiay, but I got so excited about Noel.
I would be happy if they were able to trade Gordon’s contract for draft picks, which would essentially put us where we were before the draft only with Holiday taking Gordon’s place. At least Holiday plays. I would prefer the cap space, frankly. Wait until someone who is trying to clear cap room can send us something for nothing (like a Danny Granger, or Rajon Rondo) we’re not going to attract a huge FA signing most likely.
Love this trade! We get an All Star who is only 23! He can do all the things Monty wants. Would of liked to keep the 2014 pick but I much prefer Holliday over what was probably going to be a mid-to late lottery pick. Also worth, the last two draft picks that were included in blockbuster deals ended up being late lottery picks. The Toronto pick from the CP3 trade ending up being Austin Rivers (eh…..) and the pick from the Harden trade ended up being Steven Adams. I ain’t even mad!
The worst part of the CP3 trade isnt Rivers. Its EG and now it looks like Pel fans are hoping and dreaming on him…
hewhorocks Never said Rivers was the worst part
hewhorocks
dude youre really bumming me out. great night for pels
Does this trade signal to anyone that the Rivers experiment is over or is it that the Vasquez experiment is over?
Rivers moves to the backup 2.
hewhorocks for which NBDL team?
Lol
I figured he’d get less minutes but wouldn’t that impede his progress?
yaboytonez I think rivers can be our manu or james harden(OKC days)
I really like that idea. What do you think we should do with the Brian Roberts? I like his game.
yaboytonez If only Manu or James Harden couldn’t shoot, weren’t particularly athletic, and turned it over a ton.
Yeah maybe Vasquez fills that role better but I think Rivers will develop a lot this year…hopefully.
revdrbflow yaboytonez If Rivers is ever as good as Manu or Harden in his OKC days than I will eat a huge serving of CROW PIE.
yaboytonez
rivers is a kid and grievis is a backup wing. they were both asked to do too much last year a(because development was a priority w’s were not) and now can move to roles that suit them. let’s reserve judgement on Austin til he hits drinking age please
I agree with you, its too early to know what we have in him yet.
yaboytonez Too soon to tell. I gather there will be many more moves made.
I love the trade. We get better now and for the future. If we gave Iggy, Deng or Granger a big contract, they would start to decline as their cap hit continued to rise. Holiday is 23 and is on a very fair contract. We’ll be better next year and we’ll be much better in the long term. Hopefully the pick next year will be in the 12-16 range anyway; even in the lauded 2003 draft, after Wade, there isn’t much talent. AD, Ryno and Holiday sounds sweet to me. Way to go Dell.
Jrue was a 17th pick himself. He worked out. I dont think the trade makes the Pel’s worse, I think it sells them short.
“I don’t think it makes the Pels worse, it sells them short” perfect take on this trade.
hewhorocks Short of what?? a SF? Porter was off the board and there weren’t any other SF’s to draft here. If you wanted us to keep Noel to help the frontcourt, I don’t know why. He is a project offensively and coming off a major injury. Yes, I think he is a great defensive talent, but what did we really give up here?
My point is not that you keep Noel. I liked Burke, 10 million more cap space and a 2014 lottery pick. I think the trade says get as good as you can now even if it costs you future assets. I think you want your top players reaching their peak at the same time to contend. By the time Davis (and perhaps Rivers) reach their peak, Jrue will be gone and their wont be young talent coming up behind to replace him as they will likely be out of the lottery by then.
hewhorocks Disagree that Jrue will be gone. We already have him locked up for the next four years and he is only 23. If we are doing something special here with Anthony Davis and he likes New Orleans, why would he leave?
I still say that it is hard to pass up on proven All-Star caliber talent for a couple rolls of the dice.
Well I hope my concerns are unfounded. Jrue will be looking for his big payday and maybe the Hornets will be able to take care of him then.
It just seems to me that while they traded this years pick at its peak value they traded next years at its lowest point.
Here’s another good question. We got Vasquez, Gordon, Rivers, & Holiday…what about Brian Roberts?
yaboytonez He’s expendable just like his contract
Too much…I don’t think we could have afforded to keep Noel. Keeping him as a player basically punts an entire season and basically punts Ryan Anderson’s time as a Pelican to boot. But if we were including a top-5 protected…too much.
Protected in the top-ten, then we are talking. But top five picks are hard to come by, We were terrible this year and still picked outside the top five. I think we should have gotten the number 11 pick as well….I just am not too certain about this trade.
Our depth is still a huge issue and bars us from the playoffs in my opinion.
mateor We got a 23 year old ALL-STAR. How many teams will say that tonight? Probably none.
Holliday has more impact next season than any player taken in this draft. As for the price, the #6 pick this year and a protected pick next year is a very small price. Even if the worst case scenario happens and we have the #6 pick next year, which it won’t, I still think the price is fair. To get a proven All-Star at age 23, you have to take that.
cnoel23 mateor
well…those guys have yet to play. I don’t know…I am on the fence and that probably means it was a fair trade. But something keeps tugging at me about including that draft pick next year. Philly wants a chance at next year’s number one…they are going to absolutely suck next year, If we also struggle, they can come out of this with two top ten picks in a legendarily loaded draft and 20 year old Nerlens Noel, who could have gone 1 this year. Not to mention a now pristine cap sheet.
Not a bad trade for Jrue Holiday, somewhere in the vicinity of the top 10-12 PGs in the league.
I am willing to be positive, the Pels have a lot of pieces I love and Jrue looks to fit well. But I think we could have gotten either more protection, or their first rounder this year. (only number 12)
Amazing, great trade!!!!! Jrue turned 23 last week is a two way player, and has a great, value contract, how does Dell do it.
Philly is tanking as is Boston Atlanta and the usual suspects. Do we want to drag Antony down in a race to the bottom?
Greatest need for pels was clearly pg, and did we want to coddle one of the huge question marks in this draft? No, we got an all star! Good luck elsewhere Brandon jennings!
It’s obvious our greatest weakness was perimeter d, help on the way!
Love how quickly we made the trade and the pick, showing evidence of preplanning. How did the gms before us fail to pick a player that could be flipped for real assets rather than huge ? S I don’t know but once again gladDell is our gm. Finally I repeat that I’m amazes by the fact that Dell time and time again gets players on major value contracts. When jrue is in his prime hell still be @ 11M a year
The greatest need for the Pel’s statistically was at the 3. At PG the Pel’s have been better than average. Heck the Pel’s have traded away more decent PG talent in the last 3 years than most teams ever see.
hewhorocks Vazquez was serviceable. I wouldn’t call him better than average. He’s not one of the Top 15 PG’s in the NBA and we upgraded to get a 23 year old All-Star PG.
Stats say Vazquez was better than average. Still Jrue is certainly quicker but he’s not been vastly superior. He has is near the leauge lead in Turnovers. He is a one time allstar no question. I just dont think its the long term strategy of the trade makes sence unless you think that the trade makes them contenders now.
The so called “stepian rule” prohibits NBA teams from trading their future first rounders in consecutive years.
Not sure if we got around this because after a player is picked they are a player and not a “pick”. So we traded Noel and next years first rounder? Does anyone know the details on this rule?
now…i hope jamaal franklin or whithey fall to #42 and maybe i change my grade to A….i vote for B
Funny how Del couldnt get the 35 out of them….Still WTH is going on with the 42 pick????Another PG?
To be clear, I think the Pel’s will be better and more entertaining next year. I just think they had much more glaring needs than another PG.
I will still attend the games. The product the Pels will put on the floor this year is definitely improved in the back court, not so much in the front court.
yaboytonez The season doesn’t start tomorrow and I definitely don’t think Dell is done. We came out of this draft with a proven All-Star PG locked up for the next four years. That is an excellent draft.
One breakout season doesn’t make you a proven pg.
Now to see improvement at SF and Center
This is exciting!
have to go after omer asik now in my opinion
Hank_ hurt our flexibility to do so unless they take money back, maybe rolo. not sure at what point his money stays unguaranteed til but if they can trade for him and cut him that has appeal to them in the Dwight chase. Salaries would work in that case, not sure what else they’d want but i’d love to see it happen
Houpgarou agreed they would definitely have to get rid of rolo. He isnt a fit anymore in my opinion but I would take Asik on his 8 mil contract for the next years. perfect fit and right when his contract runs out Davis should be on schedule to take over the center position
Bottom line – we got our big 3-4 today.
Davis, Holiday, Gordon, and Anderson is perhaps the best core for the next 5 years, at least in the top 3. Holiday is on a great contract. Ryan Anderson is on a great contract. Anthony Davis is on a rookie deal. Eric Gordon… I’ll get back to you on that (but seriously, it balances out to be a positive, right?).
Noel got passed on by 5 teams because they were worried about his knee. The guy is SUPER raw offensively, and probably would not have been a good player for a couple of years. His ceiling is high, but his floor is low. He’s a risk! A big risk at that!
Regarding next year’s pick – we have no idea what it’s going to end up being. Most likely, it’ll be anywhere from 10-15. We don’t know who’s going to be there next year. Historically speaking, 10-15 is okay to pick at, but we’re talking about a borderline starter maybe. The Raptors pick sounded really nice for OKC, but they got Steven Adams for that. How exciting..
So basically we traded two TOTALLY unknowns, one coming off a big injury (no matter how much people try playing it off, an ACL injury is really severe and will cut into Noel’s development), and in return, we got a 23 year old All-Star point guard on a great contract, establishing our long term core.
I’ll take that any day.
Seems like everyone is forgetting about one thing. Jrue is going to make it SO much easier to convince free agents that NOLA is a good destination. We just improved our young core by leaps and bounds with one move. I wish Dell Demos had a jersey. I would buy that buy that shit so fast!
If CP3 couldnt convince FA to come to Nola Jrue is not going to.
You’re forgetting about how unstable the organization was at that time. Shitty or no owner, bad coach and players back then couldn’t single handedly fire a coach as easily.
Not forgetting. Just dont think that anyone says to CP3 “I’d love to win championships with you and David West but I’m not going to play for Byron scott.
AMAZING!!!!!!!!
This trade is absolutely brilliant! Gr8 point about the 2014 pick, totally agree because we will hopefully be an 8th seed next year! I was excited about NERLINS in NAWLINS but I mean.. he’s a ?, the 2014 pick is a ?… this is AWESOME!
Love this trade so much. I wanted us to use our cap space on a higher tier center (Pekovic or maybe Al Jefferson) but I think this was something we couldn’t pass on. We now have 4 potential all stars covering 3 positions. Plus a solid backup Center in Jason Smith (the day we get rid of him is the day I leave the city in tears) and a maybe possible somewhat decent backup SG in Rivers (maybe).
We should try and work some deal that ships out Lopez for someone with a better post game (maybe Asik, I dunno right now but the Rockets could land Howard). And Vasquez could contribute coming off the bench but he does have high trade value now which isn’t going to be higher. Whatever cap we have left (if any) could be used for a cheap SF (maybe Budinger or Brewer).
Though overall this is excellent and unless the ping pong balls screw us over (if in lottery) or injuries hit us hard again. Still laughing that the Sixers went after an injured center after the Bynum situation though
This is hardly a “Blockbuster Trade”. We traded a player coming off of an injury that 5 other teams passed on for an above average point guard. This trade signals to me that Demps knows that he could not attract A or B level free agents and that this was the only way for him to address a need he felt the team had. I am sure he has other deals in the works, but now he has used a lot of his cap space. The only free agents he can sign now are C and D level guys. Get ready for more Roger Masons.
DavidLBrown
Top prospect for all-star sounds like a blockbuster to me. If Noel was drafted by Boston and Holiday came from Chicago ESPN would explode with headlines. It changes some of the NBA landscape.
DavidLBrown We traded a #6 pick with a high risk ACL injury for an All-Star PG. We ripped Philly.
Caffeinedisaster DavidLBrown Hands down. Holiday is waaaaaay better then all of the other options that they have written Gr8 articles on this site about. Jennings, Jeff Teague, trading all of our assets for Bledsoe… NO thank you. I don’t know why everyone was all about giving up Vasques/Lopez and 2014 1st round pick to get Bledsoe… well Holiday is waaaaay better the Bledsoe!
Totally awesome trade and a great write-up Michael. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, especially when the bird in the hand is a durable, athletic all-star PG on a good four year contract.
The most overlooked parts of the trade are: Vasquez, who management loves, can be do-it-all backup and give us minutes
at PG, SG, and SF. And we can use the MLE (which I think will be $5M over four years for the Pelicans this year) and then resign Animu, who pairs well with quality perimeter shooting PFs Anderson or Smith. This trade works from so many angles. Just wait and see.
Plus Dell likely isn’t done yet. Brewer would likely fit in the MLE, and the MLE can be split among multiple players!
I’m sorry to kill the good vibe that everyone seems to have about it, but how does no one else see how TERRIBLE this trade was? Spin it however you want to, Mike, but the bottom line is, we wasted a ton of value here. Why in the world would you not just draft McLemore, Burke, MCW, or McCollum and save your pick in next years draft class which is supposedly stacked? I figured when we took Noel that we would be trading him. Then, when we did, and I heard it was for Holiday, I was hoping we got something else out of the trade on the side. But then I read that, not only were we not getting more value out of it, but we were actually swapping a 1st round pick in a great draft class for a 2nd round pick in a mediocre one?! Everything the Pelicans did today made me scratch my head. 6ers made out like bandits on this deal.
mrcatz22I think you have the wrong idea of “top 5 protected”. We only get to KEEP the pick if it ends up being a top 5 pick. Anything after 5, the pick belongs to the 76ers.
BrandonHebert mrcatz22 Oh my bad, I read that completely wrong, sorry
BrandonHebert
Where do you think Holiday would have been drafted if he was in this draft as the player he is today? Try OVERWHELMINGLY #1 by a wide margin, like Davis last year. If we traded AD right now, what would you except for him? I bet it’s a lot more that a 6th pick and a 1-5 protected pick!
504ever everything you said just now was speculation and opinion. Holiday is NOT Anthony Davis and we don’t have to trade for him because we were lucky enough to draft him. No one knows where he would have gone in this year’s draft, but from a value standpoint, there were players left at No. 6 that, combined with next another 1st round pick next year, would add up to give us more value than Jrue Holiday. Especially considering the fact that several players in next years draft could have been the top pick in this year’s.
BrandonHebert 504ever
You make no sense. Everything everyone is saying here is speculative. (Unless you think you, and you alone, can see the future.) What a poorly reasoned dodge of my question!
504ever lol obviously no one here knows exactly what’s going to happen, but when I said “speculation” I was more talking about the fact that you said Jrue would have been the #1 pick in this year’s draft and put him on the same level as AD. So quick to jump down someone’s throat before simply asking them to explain. haha
Holiday is a 4 year player, he was drafted 17th overall. He has 1 good season.
BrandonHebert So you think this was a terrible trade? No, the James Harden trade was a terrible trade, the Pau Gasol trade was a terrible trade. Before Doug Collins pretty much quit on Philly after February, he was averaging 19 points a game, 9 assists per, 1.5 steals per, and shot about 45 %. Those are solid numbers considering the only offensive help he had was Evan Turner (…..yeah). (He has never played with a stretch 4 like Anderson, a freak athlete like Davis, and a supporting SG like Gordon.) After, February Collins pretty much quit on his team, causing a dip in his numbers.
Second, you would honestly take Mclemore over a proven guy who puts up those numbers? Well…. that’s sad on your part. Burke over Holliday? Really bro? I would take the PROVEN player who measures better in just about every meaningful category. MCW couldn’t shoot three’s to save his life. Holliday shot at 35 % (the point guard average for the league is about 37 %, so he is an average three point shooter compared to a guy who couldn’t hit from the college line), CJ McCollum is an interesting player who I would of liked but keep in mind that he has yet to play and will be 22 at the start of the season (compared to Holliday being 23), McCollum is coming of a bad foot injury (Holliday has played in 298 of a possible 312 games in his career), and that Holliday is once again, a PROVEN All-Star.
Draft picks are enticing because of what they could become. As Ryan has stated before, your chances of getting a high impact player after the fifth pick go down drastically. There are chances of you finding good players after that, but they are rare. Hence, why the pick is top 5 protected. The draft next year appears to have 5 guys who will be very good, assuming they don’t bomb in college like Shabazz or Steven Adams.
I don’t see how we finish worse than 10th next year with a point guard who can do things like defend, run the pick n’ roll, defend, drive, and oh yeah defend. We were 7 wins away from picking 12th. Had Eric Gordon been there the first half of last season, we would of won at least seven more. But I digress, let’s say we win the 10th pick in the lottery and Philly gets it in this “loaded draft”. Here is every 10th pick since 2000:
2000-Kenyon Dooling
2001- Joe Johnson
2002- Caron Butler
2003- Jarvis Hayes
2004- Luke Jackson
2005- Andrew Bynum
2006-Saer Sene
2007- Spencer Hawes
2008- Brook Lopez
2009- Brandon Jennings
2010-Paul George
2011- Jimmer Fredette
2012- Austin Rivers
Only guy who I can say is a high impact player is Paul George. Even in the loaded 2003 draft that brought us Melo, James, and Wade had busts. Holliday, on the other hand, is a high impact player who was the best player in Philly.
In conclusion, the only way I see our 2014 pick having the value you think it has, is if we pick in the top 5 (And with Davis, Gordon, Anderson, Holliday- No way we pick in the top 5 barring injury). Holliday is infinitely better than Noel. We were so limited in what we could do offensively because of Vasquez’s lack of speed. This trade was far from horrible. We gave up a guy with injury concerns and a likely pick in the teens for an All-Star point who is only 23.
We’re making the playoffs. That means the pick is out of the lottery, so at that point, it’s a serious crap shoot anyway. People who don’t like this trade just don’t know Jrue Holiday. He is a young stud (just turned 23 a week ago), and he has a lot of potential to keep growing. Dell got a STEAL!!!
Jrue!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrWpLS0vM0g