New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday is drawing significant interest on the trade market this offseason, and you can add the Atlanta Hawks to the growing list of potential suitors.
The Hawks are exploring multi-team trade possibilities that would involve Holiday and Atlanta’s No. 6 overall pick in the draft, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times.
In addition to multiple teams being interested in Holiday, there are also said to be a number of suitors for the No. 6 pick. Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer reported on Wednesday that the Minnesota Timberwolves, who currently have the top overall pick, may be interested in acquiring another lottery pick like Atlanta’s. The Boston Celtics are also in the mix.
Holiday is widely considered to be one of the best two-way guards in the NBA, so it’s no surprise he is such a hot commodity. His market could be impacted by his contract situation, however. Holiday has a $27 million player option for the 2021-22 season that he is expected to decline, so any team that acquires him would either need to sign him to an extension or risk only having him as a one-year rental.
Holiday averaged 19.1 points, 6.7 assists, and 1.6 steals per game for the Pelicans last season. He’s so highly-regarded as a defender that his peers openly felt he got snubbed in All-Defensive Team voting.
The Brooklyn Nets, Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat are three other teams that reportedly have interest in Holiday. Miami may even be open to trading one of its postseason heroes for the 30-year-old veteran.
