Golden State Warriors: Breaking down the 5 best trade ideas
By Jenny Lu
2. Jrue Holiday
One of the more plausible trade rumors surrounding the Golden State Warriors includes New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday. This season, Holiday has averaged a decent 19.1 points per game and 6.7 dimes in a total of 61 games. Despite having celebrated his 30th birthday this June, Holiday has put up consistent numbers, shooting 45.5 percent from the field, 35.3 percent from 3-point range and 70.9 percent from the free throw line.
Unlike other guards that would not fit on the Warriors roster such as Bradley Beal or LaMelo Ball, Holiday is also an amazing defender with natural instincts and a great read on the game.
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In fact, Kevin Durant recently called Jrue “probably the best defender in the league at the guard position,” on J.J. Redick’s podcast, The Old Man and the Three. Looking at the stats, he averaged 4.8 total rebounds per game, 1.6 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game. Durant went on to praise Jrue’s ability to pressure guards on-ball and his ability to match up against pick-and-roll plays. This is high praise from KD, one of the best guard defenders in the NBA.
Jrue Holiday is a well-rounded player who can take the pressure off of Curry and Thompson at times as a guard but more importantly, his talents on the defensive end will fill a hole for the Warriors.