Should the Dallas Mavericks Pursue a Jrue Holiday Trade?

The New Orleans Pelicans could be shopping their former All-Star point guard, Jrue Holiday, before the trade deadline. Should the Dallas Mavericks be interested?

Even though the Dallas Mavericks sit with a 14-27 record in the Western Conference, they are just three games back from the eighth seed. Dirk Nowitzki is back healthy and the team is pushing for the playoffs.

So with the trade deadline just over a month away, how will the Mavericks approach it?

One position that Dallas might look to make some type of changes at either this season or this summer will be at point guard. According to Sam Amico, former All-Star point guard, Jrue Holiday of the New Orleans Pelicans could be on the market.

"“Pelicans will try to make a “splash” at the deadline, have been dangling PG Jrue Holiday, picks. If not, want to clear cap space for summer”"

It’s unclear how much of a “splash” they can make with Holiday, but the idea of Dallas entertaining it would intrigue some.

Jrue Holiday came over in a draft day trade from Philadelphia in the summer of 2013 after making the Eastern Conference All-Star team just the season before.

Holiday came in right away where many assumed he would be the second young star next to Anthony Davis and help push New Orleans up the Western Conference standings. But over the past three years, that hasn’t been the case.

He appeared in just a combined 74 games over his first two years in New Orleans before appearing in 65 games last year. But now Holiday is back at full speed and is averaging 14 points and seven assists a game in while logging over 30 minutes a night.

Holiday is still just 26 years old, but it’s his contract situation that could be enticing New Orleans to shop him before the deadline. Holiday is on an expiring contract paying him just over $11 million this season, so he could theoretically walk for nothing in free agency this summer.

Must Read: Wesley Matthews Leads Mavericks to Third Straight Win

But this does mean that whatever team who could possibly trade for Holiday would take the chance of him not signing with them in the summer…similar to Rajon Rondo in Dallas.

So why would Dallas be interested?

Well it all depends on how highly the Mavericks organization views Holiday and what exactly the price would be to get him.

If New Orleans doesn’t get a bigger offer for a similar quality of player, they could look to attach one of their longer term contracts like Solomon Hill or Omer Asik to the deal to help clear up cap space this summer.

If it meant giving up Deron Williams, Andrew Bogut and Justin Anderson (or a future draft pick), would taking back Holiday and Asik (two years, $20 million left after this year) be worth it?

More from The Smoking Cuban

I recognize that New Orleans could probably get more on the open market for Holiday, but if the market dries up, they don’t think Holiday will sign back this summer, and they need a team that will risk the trade…don’t count Dallas out.

In a deal similar to this, New Orleans would shed the contract of Asik while trading the possibility of losing Holiday for a young player such as Anderson or a future pick.

Dallas would then insert Holiday into the starting unit where they would try to get him back to his All-Star form, but if it didn’t work out, he could always walk in free agency over the summer. Asik would replace Bogut off the bench and help guard some of the bigger anchors in the league.

The real sticking point would be giving up an Anderson (or future pick) for a young point guard who could walk for nothing over the summer. Sounds familiar right?

I’m not saying I would do this exact deal, but I do think Holiday doesn’t have the highest of trade value and that he does have value/potential left considering his age.

Next: Four Players to Monitor at Trade Deadline

So should Dallas pursue a trade for Jrue Holiday? Much like anyone, for the right price, they should at least make a call.

Home/Mavs News