The Golden State Warriors hold the No. 2 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and with that comes no shortage of NBA trade rumors. The latest? The elite on-ball defender from the New Orleans Pelicans; Jrue Holiday.
With Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson both returning to the Warriors’ lineup next season, it makes sense for Golden State to push all their chips in the middle of the table to win-now. They already have been proven to be a championship core and could use the No. 2 pick to add to it.
According to NBA insider Tom Habertroh, the Warriors are ‘obviously’ going to try to trade for Holiday from the Pelicans to help solidify their defense.
“I think they are going to obviously try to get Jrue Holiday in New Orleans,” Haberstroh speculated to NBC Sports Bay Area,” Jrue Holiday is an elite perimeter defender, he may not have made All-Defense but I think he is right up there with the best perimeter defenders in the league, and I think he’d be a great fit next to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.”
There has been no shortage of NBA trade rumors involving Holiday throughout his tenure with the Pelicans. However, with the Pelicans coming so close to a playoffs spot this season, it’s unclear if they would be willing to move on from him.
It would not be easy for the Warriors to navigate a potential trade for Holiday since the Pelicans would surely seek a substantial return. Additionally, Golden State’s contract situation would likely require them to part with a contract like Andrew Wiggins or Draymond Green in some sort of trade package.
“He’s not going to come cheaply, so in order to get someone like Jrue Holiday, you’ll have to give up assets, and certainly David Griffin would be asking for a boatload of whatever the Golden State Warriors have,” Haberstroh explained, “It is going to be tough to envision a deal that works for both sides, but I do think that if you’re going to get a star, or an up and coming star, you’ll have to give up something to get something, and Jrue Holiday is really really good, it’s just a question of New Orleans if they want to keep him or Lonzo Ball is their future point guard.”
Based on the landscape of the Warriors’ roster, it doesn’t seem that Holiday would be the best type of trade target to pursue. Favoring a pursuit of a cheaper contributor that can fill a helpful role would be a better option to pursue.
Regardless of what the Warriors end up doing this offseason, it will be fascinating to see how effective they are with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson back in the lineup. What move do they need to make in order to win another championship? We will have to wait and see.
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