The New Orleans Pelicans might look really different once the NBA’s trade deadline wraps up on Feb. 7, as Anthony Davis wants out of town. Despite the fact that one star player wants to leave The Big Easy, however, the Pelicans don’t have plans to completely hit the reset button and go through a full-blown rebuild.
According to a report by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, New Orleans has gotten some calls about standout veteran point guard Jrue Holiday. Despite this, there’s no indiction that the team wants to trade him.
Amid the Anthony Davis talks, teams calling on New Orleans' next best player — guard Jrue Holiday — tell ESPN that the Pels are indicating no interest in moving him. Beyond this season, Holiday has three years, $77M left on deal through 2022.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 2, 2019
While he’s long been a solid floor general, Holiday is in the midst of the best season of his career. He’s putting up career-best marks in scoring and rebounding, while his eight assists per game tie his career high. Add in Holiday’s reputation as one of the most versatile and tenacious defenders in the game, along with the fact that he’s under contract for a few more seasons for a relatively reasonable amount of money, and it would make sense that teams are getting in touch about acquiring his services.
Of course, anything can change between now and the deadline, and if a team offers up enough, perhaps the Pelicans will be willing to move on from their leader in the backcourt. But for now, it appears their priority is to keep Holiday around.
