5 potential trade destinations for Jrue Holiday

1. Miami Heat

There are several options Pat Riley could pursue here, but as The Ringer‘s D.J. Foster noted, Jrue Holiday is the point guard the Miami Heat should be targeting, not Chris Paul. The Heat are off to a roaring 19-8 start and look like borderline contenders thanks to their top-10 defense, superb coaching, Jimmy Butler heroics and collection of ball-handlers, shooters and playmakers.

Adding Holiday to that equation would be like dumping gasoline on the Heat’s flame in the best way possible. The question is what kind of deal would be good enough to get it done, especially when Griffin knows Miami makes the most sense as a potential trade partner and would therefore be more desperate.

In a bidding war, a number of possible packages could intrigue New Orleans. The first is one Foster laid out, in which the Pelicans ship off Holiday and Jahlil Okafor for rookie studs Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn, as well as salary cap filler like the troublesome Dion Waiters and Meyers Leonard.

Herro learning from J.J. Redick, even if it were only for a year, would be an absolute treat, and Nunn could slot into Holiday’s spot in the backcourt in the middle of his standout rookie year. That would provide the Pelicans with two young players with tons of upside, and though Waiters is still owed $12.7 million next season, Leonard is an expiring contract.

Okafor would be hard-pressed to find his groove in Heat Culture, but Holiday would be the real prize for his defense and his ability to play on or off the ball.

Another option would be expanding the aforementioned deal to include Goran Dragic‘s $19.2 million expiring contract while sending sharpshooter J.J. Redick to South Beach. So to summarize, the Heat would get Holiday, Redick and Okafor, while the Pels would receive Herro, Nunn, Dragic, Waiters and Leonard.

Dragic is getting older, is more injury-prone and would just be a half-season rental, but he’d provide NOLA with salary cap relief this summer and was also enjoying a Sixth Man of the Year campaign in Miami before being bogged down by injuries.

Meanwhile, adding Redick as a wing sniper would make the Heat’s system that much more difficult to defend. Giving up two tantalizing rookies would sting, but the remaining centerpieces of Butler, Holiday, Redick, Bam Adebayo and Justise Winslow would more than constitute a legitimate contender.

If that’s too many moving parts for either side, narrowing the deal down might make more sense:

Would the Heat be willing to part with Winslow? It’s possible. Butler already fills that point forward/defensive stopper role pretty dang well, and Winslow has only played 10 games this season due to injury anyway. Miami’s fared pretty well without him, and combining him with Dragic’s expiring deal and a future first-rounder to snag Holiday would be well worth it. In this scenario, they’d also keep their hands on Herro and Nunn.

For the Pelicans, this might not be enough, especially if they’re invested in keeping Ingram around for the long-term. Winslow’s best position is as a point forward or a small-ball 4, which could be problematic alongside Zion Williamson if neither one of them developed a reliable 3-point shot. The Pelicans are already starved for floor-spacing and Winslow might clog it up even further.

Even worse, the soonest the Heat can offer a first-round selection is 2025, making this option more sensible as a starting bid before progressing to a final offer. Miami has options and the aggression needed to get a deal done if the Pelicans make Jrue Holiday available. Now it’s just a matter of waiting for that moment to arrive.