NBA Free Agency: Jrue Holiday, Pelicans agree on five-year deal

Just a few hours into 2017 NBA free agency, the New Orleans Pelicans have agreed to lock up point guard Jrue Holiday on a big new contract

Entering 2017 NBA free agency, the New Orleans Pelicans faced a potentially dire situation. After trading for DeMarcus Cousins prior to the 2017 deadline this past season, they need to improve quickly if they hope to retain him. That left them with several big decisions to make, and to make fast. Perhaps chief among those decisions was what to do with point guard Jrue Holiday.

After missing the start of last season due to personal reasons involving his wife, Holiday again flashed his immense talent when on the floor. While he’s never going to be particularly “elite” at the position, he’s a well-above average player capable of leading a team to victory. However, with him likely to command big money on the open market, the Pelicans had to decide if he was part of their future.

Ultimately, they decided that he was indeed in their future plans. Early on Saturday morning, the Pelicans and Holiday agreed on a five-year, $125 million contract, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Also per Woj, the deal has incentives and bonuses that can push the value to $150 million, and there is a player option in Year 5 of the deal:

This is a big move for New Orleans after missing the playoffs. There’s nothing much to say about Holiday returning other than that the Pelicans obviously feel he’s going to be able to grow with Cousins and Anthony Davis.

Next: NBA Free Agency 2017 Tracker: Latest rumors, trades and deals

What will be more critical for New Orleans is what they plan to do next. Obviously with Holiday, Davis and now Holiday on the books for big money, they’ll have to be creative financially. With that said, it’ll likely be the supporting cast put in place that determines the ceiling of the Pelicans moving forward.