The New Orleans Pelicans will be tasked with the objective of finding a trade suitor for Jrue Holiday this NBA offseason. The Boston Celtics appear to be a potential landing spot.
According to The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor, the Celtics have made offers consisting of their three 1st round selections in the 2020 NBA Draft in an effort to move up. This would be used to reroute the acquired pick to the Pelicans to land Jrue Holiday.
The Celtics have offered up their three first-round picks (nos. 14, 26, and 30) in trades to try and move into the lottery, but multiple league sources say they intend to reroute that pick to the Pelicans in exchange for Jrue Holiday. If Boston is able to acquire the necessary assets, it’d still need to add salaries to make a deal work. Could that mean Gordon Hayward or Kemba Walker could be on the move? No matter the case, the Celtics are up to something big to try and bolster their title odds.
It wouldn’t make much sense for the Celtics to execute a trade for Holiday without including Kemba Walker. He seemed to deal with ongoing knee issues throughout the NBA playoffs and his impact was diminished and inconsistent as a result.
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The idea of adding Holiday makes plenty of sense given his ability to make a real impact defensively— an area where Walker does not thrive. It could be the type of move that takes the Celtics’ unit to the next level in that regard.
There is a clear drop-off when comparing Walker’s shot creation ability to Holiday. However, it’s clear that Holiday has a proficient lane penetration ability and offers a superior ability to do so. That would create more opportunities for Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to shoulder shot creation.
Regardless of how the Boston Celtics would need to go about getting a deal done for Jrue Holiday, the idea of adding him to their roster is intriguing. It will be fascinating to see if they can get something done with the New Orleans Pelicans during the NBA offseason.
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