The Jrue Holiday trade market appears to be heating up in the lead-up to the 2020 NBA Draft. Last week, word came out that a handful of contenders are interested in a move for the veteran guard, with the New Orleans Pelicans “openly discussing” trying to find him a new team. Now, a new report indicates that a team with aspirations of making it to the postseason want to get in on the fun.
Marc Stein of the New York Times reports that the Atlanta Hawks have their sights set on a potential multi-team trade for Holiday, and are willing to part with the No. 6 pick in the upcoming Draft to make it happen.
The Hawks have emerged as a potential trade destination for New Orleans' Jrue Holiday in multi-team trade scenarios that would involve Atlanta's No. 6 pick in next week's draft, league sources say
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) November 11, 2020
Atlanta is a fascinating landing spot for Holiday. The team has plenty of money to spend this summer and can make his contract fit — Stein notes that it would probably be a year-long rental — and while he’s nominally a point guard, he’s perfectly comfortable playing off the ball. This makes him a snug fit next to Trae Young while also taking some defensive duties away from Young, which has never been a strength of his.
A Hawks team with those two in the backcourt, a frontcourt duo of John Collins and Clint Capela, and a handful of promising youngsters on the wings (Kevin Huerter, De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish) would be fun to watch. Whether it would be a playoff team is a different question, but depending on what they’d have to give up, it stands to reason that Holiday would get them closer to that goal.
