The Utah Jazz may be interested in finding a player like Aaron Holiday to pair with Donovan Mitchell. Should the Indiana Pacers be interested in making such a trade?
It may be quite some time before we see any actual NBA trades agreed upon and made, as the season’s trade deadline has passed and the remainder of the 2019-20 season is up in the air due to the season being suspended over health concerns with novel coronavirus.
A recent article from Utah Jazz site The J-Notes (Caleb Manser) suggested that one of the Holiday brothers might be a good option for the Jazz to consider in its quest to pair someone with Donovan Mitchell.
The article centered on the fact that the Mike Conley addition for Utah has not been a very seamless fit thus far and that Conley likely isn’t the point guard of the future for Utah. Conley has one year left on his current contract after this season. The Jazz secured him in a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies over the summer.
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As Manser notes, teams were interested in trading for Jrue Holiday at the trade deadline (New Orleans Pelicans) but the team has been bullish on his asking price. While just about every player in the league has a threshold for an undeniable offer, Holiday is probably pretty close to untouchable as a centerpiece of the Pelicans future.
Manser suggests that the Jazz should target a less traditional point guard to pair with Mitchell and that two of Jrue’s brothers siblings could be options.
Mitchell is more ball-dominant than most twos in the NBA are, and having someone that doesn’t need the ball in his hands quite as much and excels on defense would be a perfect way to complement Mitchell’s skill set as he comes up on what could be the prime years of his career.
Justin Holiday might work for the Jazz. He’s a free agent this summer and if they want to get a player without giving anything up, he’s the cheaper of the two Holiday brothers from Indiana from that regard. His better shooting and lengthier frame allow him to fit the archetype of what Utah might be looking for a bit better.
That, of course, would pull Indiana out of the equation (barring an unlikely sign-and-trade).
The prospect of the team striking a deal for Aaron Holiday is intriguing, but certainly far-fetched. With no games to talk about at the moment, though, we’ve got some time to ponder the potential of deals like this and weigh the pros and cons.
Aaron is on an inexpensive contract. He has two years left after this season, with the second year being a team option ($2.3 million and then $4 million). A trade with Utah likely wouldn’t return considerable talent, so we’ll focus this on stockpiling draft picks.
Utah’s high payroll makes it difficult to center a Holiday trade on just draft picks, so Nigel Williams-Goss is thrown in here to make the money work. He’s an unproven rookie who has appeared in just 28 minutes, likely someone to hold in Fort Wayne and develop.
Would trading Aaron Holiday to the Utah Jazz move the needle for the Indiana Pacers?
In truth, this trade wouldn’t help the Pacers very much, nor would any trade centered on Aaron Holiday with Utah. Holiday has been quite good for the Pacers this year in spurts and has grown into one of the leading impact players of the second unit.
In 23.6 minutes per game, Holiday is averaging 9.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, with a true shooting percentage of 51.7.
The Pacers get work done in their second unit due to the rotation setup Nate McMillan uses. He runs Domantas Sabonis with the second unit at the start of the second and fourth quarters, giving the bench a legitamite All-Star to utilize within their offense and to anchor their defense.
Given this structure, it lends credibility to the idea of retaining as much of that second unit as possible, and if not, replacing it with equivalent pieces. If the Pacers are going to send Aaron Holiday out in a trade, it would be important for them to receive someone of greater talent than Williams-Goss in return.
While Holiday is good, he hasn’t garnered the reputation as a consistent player to validate the price of a trade greater than this.
The most likely scenario for the Jazz gaining a Holiday is snagging Justin as a free agent this summer, but he is a player the Pacers should try to keep around. His length and 3-point shooting make him a useful piece on both ends of the floor.
The Jazz took Bojan Bogdanovic from the Pacers last summer. We can’t let this happen again.