New Orleans Pelicans: Complete 2017 offseason grades

An extended Holiday

Without the requisite cap space to sign one of the potential point guard upgrades floating around the free agency market, the Pelicans really had no choice but to pucker up and give Jrue Holiday the deal he wanted. In the end, it was a massive five-year, $126 million investment.

Paying more than $25 million a season for Holiday is bad enough before factoring in how that contract could reach up to $150 million in bonuses, but it gets even worse when one realizes he’s missed 122 games over his last four seasons. In fact, he’s only reached the 70-game threshold three times in his eight years in the league.

With a limited amount of cap space and a dynamic frontcourt duo that needs accompanying talent, the Pelicans wouldn’t have been able to find a comparable replacement if Holiday had signed elsewhere. By being able to go over the cap to re-sign Holiday, New Orleans had little choice but meet his demands to retain a player Anthony Davis likes.

The Pelicans were never going to be able to afford an upgrade like Kyle Lowry or George Hill, and short of miraculously stringing together a trade for someone like Eric Bledsoe, this is probably as good as they were going to do. He’s certainly not a bad point guard; he competes on both ends of the floor, doesn’t require too many touches and can facilitate to his two star offensive weapons.

However, it cannot be ignored that Holiday is relatively average in a league where talent at that position is absolutely stacked. Can you win a championship with Jrue Holiday as your starting point guard?

Last season, Holiday was healthy and only missed time to tend to his wife. He averaged an encouraging 15.4 points, 7.3 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game on. 454/.356/.708 shooting splits, and his re-signing shows Davis and Cousins that this franchise is committed to building around its three stars. Now Holiday has to start playing like one.

Grade: B-