New Orleans Pelicans: 3 trade ideas for Jrue Holiday
New Orleans Pelicans trade partner No. 2: Brooklyn Nets
If the Brooklyn Nets are to make a splash on the trade market, it doesn’t have to be for another 30-point-per-game scorer who ranks among the top players in usage rate. To check those boxes, they have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, a duo that comes with its fair set of questions but needs to, at the bare minimum, be seen before making any seismic changes.
To complement two of the league’s deadliest scorers, Brooklyn needs a player who will take on the responsibilities they won’t. Someone who is comfortable off the ball but can command it when necessary. An eager defender to guard the best the opposition has to offer.
Among players with north of 2,000 minutes last season, Holiday was just 25th in usage rate, right behind Devonte’ Graham and Dillon Brooks. It’s no surprise he’s posted his three highest true-shooting percentages in each of the last three years as he’s transitioned to shooting guard. He remains a premier perimeter ball-stopper despite missing out on either All-Defensive team this past season.
New Orleans isn’t getting the most seamless of fits for its roster in return. Caris LeVert and Spencer Dinwiddie are special creators for themselves but are inconsistent spacing the court for others, a primary need for this Pelicans team to best serve Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson.
This is about asset acquisition more than anything else. If David Griffin feels like Brooklyn is sending back the best players available, he’s likely confident in his ability to flip them himself down the line.
Should he remain healthy — an admittedly sizeable if — LeVert showed his potential stardom in the bubble. He’s got an extension kicking in this season that won’t pay him more than $18.7 million, a manageable number, through 2022-23. Dinwiddie just averaged more than 20 points and finished fourth in Sixth Man of the Year voting two years ago. He has a 2021 player option for 11.3 million that could make him a tradeable expiring.
Jarrett Allen is the real prize in the package heading to New Orleans. Though the Pelicans did recently invest a top-10 pick in Jaxson Hayes to help solve their issue in the middle, Allen offers more tangible productivity at this point while still fitting the timeline of New Orleans’ core at 22 years old.