They already have Aaron Holiday, meaning the Indiana Pacers are a third of the way there to collecting all three of the NBA’s Holidays.
The news of Anthony Davis requesting a trade from the New Orleans Pelicans put the NBA’s trade season in high gear. While the Indiana Pacers don’t have the assets to acquire the fleeing Pelican star, they do have a chance of improving their team otherwise.
And they have the chance to bring a family back together.
That’s right. I come to you today with a proposal to unite all three of the NBA’s Holiday brothers — Aaron Holiday, Jrue Holiday, and Justin Holiday — on the Indiana Pacers roster. Not only are we saving Shawn and Toya Holiday the time, effort, and money of travel, but the grabbing the other two Holidays is a smart move for the Pacers.
Besides, with Victor Oladipo out for the season, the Pacers do need help at the shooting guard position.
Trading for Justin Holiday is the easier part of the plan as he is a largely a backup for the Memphis Grizzlies. He is on the final season of his contract and is earning $4,384,616 this season, so matching salaries shouldn’t be any trouble.
As far as his on-court production, his 6.5 points, 3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists a game are solid, but the Grizzlies likely won’t hold him hostage.
If Memphis ends up trading Marc Gasol before the deadline, they need some depth at center, to why not grab the expiring deal of Kyle O’Quinn? If Indiana throws in a 2020 second round pick, then the decision shouldn’t be hard for the Grizzlies.
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Acquiring Jrue Holiday won’t be so simple. As a capable shooting guard, Jrue currently averages a career-high 21.2 points a game while handing out 8.1 assists and grabbing 4.1 rebounds a game.
He is owed over $25 million a season until 2021 when his $27M player option comes into play. If Indiana wants to maintain the young core, a draft pick is needed, and maybe even more than one.
If Pritchard makes a sales pitch to the Pelicans, he’ll push their need for those picks and a need to get younger while clearing out the books.
Jrue’s deal is solid, so Indiana would also push the idea of some expiring contracts in the form of Darren Collison, Cory Joseph, and Tyreke Evans. That’s over $30M in cap room cleared this upcoming summer for the Pelicans.
Throw in the Pacers’ 2019 1st round pick, and you’ve got a solid deal on your hands.
The end result for the Pacers would be plenty of talent at the point and shooting guard position. All three Holidays could take the court in a small ball lineup If Indiana needed that.
Having players with similar names? That’s old hat for the Indiana Pacers. If Kevin Pritchard wants a real challenge, he should look at getting all three of the Holidays under one roof.
A modest, non-serious proposal
OK, as much as I actually want this to happen, if the Pacers did, for some real reason, in real life, want all three Holidays (and a glut of them at the guard position), they would be smart to wait until the offseason anyway to sign Justin.
As far as Jrue, he would be an upgrade but there would an issue with him and Oladipo sharing the ball next season. They could work it out, and maybe Oladipo would become more of a true shooting guard.
With Oladipo’s status up in the air for the next year, it wouldn’t be the worst idea, but it also would make sure Aaron Holiday didn’t see starting minutes anytime soon, either.
There may be something there in real life, but it isn’t something I’d advocate for without a serious study of the idea.
The Pacers should explore their trade options as this season’s ceiling dropped once Oladipo went down with his injury. However, I’m not sure if grabbing the other two Holidays is the best plan at the moment.