New Orleans Pelicans: Is Jrue Holiday Chip Trading Valuable?

Is Jrue Holiday really a valuable business card for the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA today, where the emphasis is on shooting?

There is prevailing thinking in the league that New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday will be a sought after player in the commercial market by the trade deadline. CBSSports' Sam Quinn wrote an article suggesting that the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks should be from the teams involved in the Holiday commercial draw.

However, it can be argued that Jrue Holiday should not be an attractive business target because it does not have the skills to succeed with the teams that have linked to it. Jrue's statistical success over the past two seasons has been significantly influenced by how many times he can lead in the basket.

For example, Jrue drove to the basket 14.6 times per game during the 2015-16 season. He could generate 7.7 points per game on 14.6 drives. 7.7 points accounted for 45.8 percent of his total scoring output, as he averaged 16.8 points per game.

Jrue Holiday Chip Trading Valuable

Holiday saw a decrease in his units per game over the following season, averaging 12.1 per game. Jrue created six points per game for New Orleans in the field trips. The six points represented 39 percent of their total scoring performance, as they averaged 15.4 points per game.

Jrue saw a slight boost in his momentum during the 2017-18 season, averaging 12.3 per game. Jrue created 7.4 points per game for New Orleans in the field trips. 7.4 points represented 38.9 percent of their total scoring performance, as they averaged 19 points per game.

His momentum kept rising as he averaged 16.6 per game last season. Jrue was able to generate 9.7 points per game on 16.6 drives. 9.7 points represented 45.7 percent of his total scoring performance, as he averaged 21.2 points per game.

Unfortunately, Jrue's ability to attack the basket will be significantly reduced if exchanged, as he will spend more time off the ball. For example, if Jrue is traded to Heat, he will play next to a player Jimmy Butler, who insists on being the main ball manager in an offense.

According to USA Today, Jimmy believed his desire to be the main ball manager played a factor in his departure from the Chicago Bulls, as former head coach Fred Hoiberg wanted to execute a ball movement offense. Butler wanted Fred to design a system that would allow him to distribute the ball and iso to the pick-and-roll.

Chicago was not the only stop where his desire to be the leading ball player caused a problem as the Philadelphia 76ers encountered the same problem. According to ESPN, Jimmy had a meeting with head coach Brett Brown two months after he was acquired to talk about the lack of pick-and-roll on the offense.

Jimmy Butler’s story indicates that Jrue will be forced to spend more time off the ball, which emphasizes his greatest weakness, the shot. Holiday shot 33.8 percent from behind the arc in all four campaigns before the 2019-20 season.

Consequently, defenders left him open when he was off the ball, as 93.3 percent of his 3 had no play during that span. Holiday would face the same problem in Milwaukee as guards play the role of floor spacers for ball manager Giannis Antetokounmpo.

A prime example of this was found on December 19, 2017, when the Bucks had a home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Giannis dribbled on the court as Eric Bledsoe stood on the left wing in the role of the 3-point spectator / shooter.

Unfortunately, Bledsoe wasn't a threat to hurt the Cavs in that role, as he has a career-high 33.6 percent shooting percentage behind the arc. His role allowed his defender Lebron James to stand open near the free-kick line because he did not respect Bledsoe's shooting skills.

This allowed James to scan the rest of the floor and see if any of his teammates needed help with their tasks. Opposition teams would defend Jrue Holiday similarly due to their mediocre shot.

Therefore, it should diminish its attractiveness as a commercial target because most teams linked to Jrue will put it in the role of a floor spacer since they already have a main ball handler.