5 Jrue Holiday trades that work for everyone
By John Likanje
3. New York Knicks
New Orleans Pelicans receive: Frank Ntilikina, Julius Randle, No. 27 pick
New York Knicks receive: Jrue Holiday
He may not be as popular as Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook, but Holiday would be one of the safer options at point guard for the New York Knicks. Trading for Paul and Westbrook logically makes no sense and would show that the starved franchise is back to their old habits.
Paul and Westbrook are at the twilight of their primes and in win-now mode. Meanwhile, Holiday is still in his prime and can be the Knicks’ long-term solution at the position. They’ve been cycling through point guards since Raymond Felton was in uniform and, considering they have the eighth pick in this year’s draft, are projected to miss out on the top youngsters.
Obviously, Holiday isn’t the ideal choice for Knicks fans. But he’s a veteran who has experience playing with young guys and leads by example. Plus, he doesn’t always need the ball to be effective. Holiday can maximize the potential of R.J. Barrett, Kevin Knox and Mitchell Robinson and help them find their niches on the team.
This is the best-case scenario. The worst-case scenario (or it could be a best-case scenario as well) is that the Knicks eat up Holiday’s contract and free up cap space for something down the line. Meanwhile, Julius Randle, who was a last-minute signing due to the Knicks missing out on Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, would return to the Big Easy.
Randle, who had the best season of his career with Pelicans (21.4 points and 8.7 boards in 2018-19), can form a formidable frontcourt with Ingram (if he re-signs) and Williamson. That’s a strong, young frontcourt for the Pelicans to build off of for the next five to ten years. Meanwhile, Ntilikina can finally leave the New York spotlight and attempt to revive his career in New Orleans similar to Lonzo Ball.