2017 NBA free agency: 5 worst signings of the summer
By Simon Smith
2. Jrue Holiday, New Orleans Pelicans: Five years, $126 million
This is obviously a huge contract, and an even huger risk.
Granted, Holiday was named an All-Star in 2013, but he has since missed 122 games over his four seasons in New Orleans. Last season, Holiday played in 67 games, averaging 15.4 points, 7.3 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 32.7 minutes per game.
On the surface, these are clearly solid numbers. And they certainly merit Holiday continuing as the Pelicans’ starting point guard into the near future considering he’s only just recently turned 27. But when taking into consideration Holiday’s injury history, and overall placing among the top point guards in the league, this represents an enormous gamble.
In terms of efficiency, Holiday was strictly average overall last season. His shooting splits of .454/.356/.708 certainly don’ jump off the screen. But what makes this deal even the more puzzling is that the Pelicans agreed to terms on a one-year, $3.3 million contract with veteran point guard Rajon Rondo…and they plan to play the two together:
Rajon Rondo & Jrue Holiday expected to share Pelicans' backcourt together, a source said. Rondo also re-united with buddy DeMarcus Cousins.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) July 15, 2017
In essence, this means that at this stage, Rondo is going to be the Pelicans’ starting point guard, with Holiday to play off the ball at the 2-spot. Therefore, paying a valuable commodity $25 million per season to not play at their strongest position on the floor is baffling.
Furthermore, Holiday averaged just 2.5 free-throw attempts per game last season, with a career average of 2.3 per game. This certainly limits Holiday’s options on the offensive end, and hence presents an uncertain predicament facing Holiday and the Pelicans this coming season.