An underwhelming season for Indiana Pacers guard Aaron Holiday has placed him on the chopping block midway through the campaign. With the Pacers cutting his minutes in favor of Edmond Sumner and T.J. McConnell, it appears Holiday’s time in Indiana may be coming to a close.
The trade deadline is less than a week away and the Pacers have plenty of soul-searching to do before then. If they insist on making a push for the playoffs, they must make a move at the deadline to ensure that is a possibility. The same goes for the opposite perspective. We will learn more about Indiana’s expectations following the Mar. 25 deadline.
Indiana Pacers guard Aaron Holiday is reportedly involved in trade talks
Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype has reported that the Pacers are interested in moving Holiday for a first-round pick and mentioned a few teams that have pursued Holiday over the past two seasons. While the first-round pick is a bit ambitious in my opinion, it is not completely unmerited.
Story: To pry Aaron Gordon from the Orlando Magic, it’ll take a first-round pick and a good young player, league sources told @hoopshype. More on the trade market for Gordon, plus the price tags for Spencer Dinwiddie, Nemanja Bjelica, and Aaron Holiday. https://t.co/ffqF29n0dp
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) March 19, 2021
Holiday is a combo guard who can thrive as an on-ball creator off the bench. Teams with playoff aspirations could use a player like Aaron in the second unit as a creator and facilitator but his lack of size and defensive ability has made him a lackluster fit in Indiana.
To make things worse for Aaron, the Pacers currently have a lot of offensive-minded guards in the backcourt with Jeremy Lamb and Caris LeVert taking a lot of that responsibility. With Edmond Sumner continuing to show promise on both ends of the floor, Holiday’s role is increasingly limited.
Of course, the Pacers could still keep Aaron and hope to develop him moving forward but they have to consider all options. He is having the worst season of his career in terms of shooting, posting just .377/.336/.756 splits, all of which are career lows.
With his minutes taking a massive cut and his shooting percentage falling off a cliff, signs point to the end of Aaron’s time in Indiana. If they can get a first-round pick that falls inside the top 20 or so picks, the Pacers should not hesitate.