Jrue Holiday and Eric Gordon

[Ca$H]

Terrible moves by the Pelicans. Gave up way too much for Jrue. Paying way too much for Gordon. Gordon is an overpaid scrub. Can't they amnesty him?

[LoneyROY7]

Yes, Gordon sucks. :(

[AKADS]

Amnesty is no longer a thing. Last off season and Gordon's contract was signed years after the cut off.

[QuebecBaller]

They should trade Gordon for a starting SF... if they can get one

[Ca$H]

Gordon is an embarrassment. I would much rather have a guy like Draymond Green instead.

[chazzy]

Could've had Dragic

[bdreason]

The Jrue move wasn't terrible, because at least he's still a solid player.


Pelicans should have let Gordon walk though.

[SwishSquared]

The Jrue move wasn't terrible, because at least he's still a solid player.


Pelicans should have let Gordon walk though.
Totally agree about the Gordon deal. That was ugly when he signed that offer sheet. Regarding the Jrue move, though:

They limited future flexibility, gave up the Noel pick, and the pick that became Elfrid Payton. They had to give up another potential lotto pick to land a legit defensive-minded starting C in Asik. Giving a potential starting C and a lotto pick in supposedly one of most talent-rich draft in years for an overall average-tier starting PG is potentially a terrible deal. And Asik might leave next summer.

Had they not done either deal and assuming that they were starting Payton & Noel this season, that would likely put them in the running for another high lotto pick, which could be one of the top wings in the coming draft.

Hindsight is 20/20 and we may not know if Noel, Payton, or a potential 2015 first round pick even amount to guys of Holliday's or Asik's value, but I would have kept my picks. Would have had potential starting PG, SF, & C all on rookie contracts with a cap that's set to explode.

[EricGordon23]

Yeah eric gordon sucks....

[Nash-tastic]

Holiday is a pretty solid PG. Funny how Pelicans has 2 players that showed so much promise in their rookie seasons in Gordon and Evans but neither really panned out.

[imnew09]

Lakers would take both Gordon and Jrue. Both would become stars under Kobe's pressure

[bdreason]

Totally agree about the Gordon deal. That was ugly when he signed that offer sheet. Regarding the Jrue move, though:

They limited future flexibility, gave up the Noel pick, and the pick that became Elfrid Payton. They had to give up another potential lotto pick to land a legit defensive-minded starting C in Asik. Giving a potential starting C and a lotto pick in supposedly one of most talent-rich draft in years for an overall average-tier starting PG is potentially a terrible deal. And Asik might leave next summer.

Had they not done either deal and assuming that they were starting Payton & Noel this season, that would likely put them in the running for another high lotto pick, which could be one of the top wings in the coming draft.

Hindsight is 20/20 and we may not know if Noel, Payton, or a potential 2015 first round pick even amount to guys of Holliday's or Asik's value, but I would have kept my picks. Would have had potential starting PG, SF, & C all on rookie contracts with a cap that's set to explode.




No I agree, they totally jumped the gun. I think it was the new owners first year and he wanted to make a splash? With the new CBA what he should have done is build slowly through the draft.

[chocolatethunder]

As a Sixer fan I was happy to see Holiday go. MCW may never end up being a great PG but I didn't like Holiday's game at all. Evans, Holiday and Gordon all need the ball to be effective which is going to be a problem for them. I appreciate them taking risks to make their team better but I'm not sure that those risks are gonna pan out.

[ImKobe]

As a Sixer fan I was happy to see Holiday go. MCW may never end up being a great PG but I didn't like Holiday's game at all. Evans, Holiday and Gordon all need the ball to be effective which is going to be a problem for them. I appreciate them taking risks to make their team better but I'm not sure that those risks are gonna pan out.

MCW already > Gordon & Jrue

[chocolatethunder]

MCW already > Gordon & Jrue
While I suspect that's true, I'd like to see MCW play on a team that isn't filled with D League players so we can all get a better idea of what kind of player he is. I think he's going to be a solid starter. Not an all star but a good solid player.

[Magic731]

Eric Gordon was looking really good when he was the number one guy on this team. Unfortunately he missed a lot of time with injury so wasn't able to prove it often enough. Since they have added Davis, Evans and Hoiday he has gone down hill. At the time no one had a problem with Phoenix offering him that huge contract. The only problem was that New Orleans kept him there against his will which a lot of people were against.

[SwishSquared]

No I agree, they totally jumped the gun. I think it was the new owners first year and he wanted to make a splash? With the new CBA what he should have done is build slowly through the draft.
Yeah my bad, went overboard haha. I think the new owner is the same person who owns the Saints, right? I just think they overdid it big time.

If they figure everything out, then the core of this squad is very dangerous. Had they never kept Gordon and didn't do the Holliday deal, they could have acquired picks by taking on other team's trash (like Utah to help GSW clear cap). Their future isn't bleak, but man, could be on a totally different trajectory.

[dzav323]

The Noel-Holiday trade is a wash. Both teams benefitted. The Pels did not need any more youth on the squad.

If the Pels had let EG walk, they would have basically traded CP3 for Austin Rivers, Kaman, and Aminu. They will have cap flexibility, especially when the new TV deal kicks in and AD has already been given the max. Hopefully Gordon will opt out after this year and NOLA will have an additional 15 mil to spend

[anthonyRandolph]

Holiday is a pretty solid PG. Funny how Pelicans has 2 players that showed so much promise in their rookie seasons in Gordon and Evans but neither really panned out.
Evans is averaging 20, 6 and 8 this year. While Jrue is coming off a year where he was near the top of the league in APG with 9. Jrue does not need the ball to be successful, he's a phenomenal defender and very good spot up shooter. You guys really do rarely watch Pelicans games, I love everything about Jrue's game. He plays a different role in New Orleans then he did in philly and he's been very good at it. Tyreke Evans even developed a jump shot ffs


Tyreke Evans is off to an incredible start for the Pelicans this season by posting averages of 17.8 points, 9.0 boards, and 6.0 assists.
He has been overshadowed by Anthony Davis, but Evans deserves a lot of credit. With Eric Gordon struggling to even look like an NBA player on the court, the Pelicans will keep relying on Evans to handle most of the ball-handling responsibilities along with Jrue Holiday.


Jrue Holiday posted a double-double against the Spurs on Saturday with 15 points, three rebounds, 11 assists, three steals, one block and one 3-pointer in 36 minutes.
He did a nice job controlling the tempo on both sides of the spectrum. Holiday has a lot of weapons around him and 10 of his dimes went to Anthony Davis, Eric Gordon or Tyreke Evans tonight.

[HurricaneKid]

Hopefully Gordon will opt out after this year and NOLA will have an additional 15 mil to spend

I can't imagine why he wouldn't opt out and then sign elsewhere for the league min. Makes sense to me.

NYK fans used to think Stat wasn't going to opt in for 22M this year.

[HurricaneKid]

MCW already > Jrue

W. T. F?

He literally doesn't do a single thing as well as Jrue. Jrue is a far better defender, passer, shooter...

MCW's career TS% is .480. Jrue's all time worst is .496. MCW is longer but Jrue is a better def.

And MCW is 23. Its not like he is a young guy with a ton of upside. He is only one year younger than Jrue.

[SwishSquared]

The Noel-Holiday trade is a wash. Both teams benefitted. The Pels did not need any more youth on the squad.
I disagree. Philly looks to be winning that trade. Jrue is a nice piece, no doubt, and his contract will only get better with a rising cap. But they directly gave up 2 lotto picks for him. I mean he's not a superstar and that's a heavy price to pay.

The Tyreke signing was good in a vacuum. I like his fit on the team and when he plays with RA, they blitz units. I think they could have gotten him for less and worked out a S&T with SAC so that the Kings could have gotten a couple 2nd rounders and a big TPE out of the deal. They did a similar thing with Thomas this past summer and that makes me think they would have done something similar in regards to Tyreke.


If the Pels had let EG walk, they would have basically traded CP3 for Austin Rivers, Kaman, and Aminu. They will have cap flexibility, especially when the new TV deal kicks in and AD has already been given the max. Hopefully Gordon will opt out after this year and NOLA will have an additional 15 mil to spend
He's not opting out because he likely wouldn't even get that much total after this season on a new contract. Sure, that would have looked awful for them in terms of the CP3 deal. The best thing about the CP3 deal was Stern ensuring that NOP got the #1 pick the next season. I immediately knew Gordon would never live up to a max and he hasn't come close to doing so.

They won't have any significant cap space this summer and that's assuming they renounce rights to all of their FAs and don't pick up any options on guys. If they re-sign Asik (they almost have to at this point), they won't have much $ to make more moves. They'll have plenty of space in 2016, assuming Asik gets a deal that pays him 8 figures and Davis' max contract starts at ~$17M.

Also disagree regarding the age of the roster. It's only Davis' 3rd season and it's important to have some solid vets, but they could have brought in some high-character, more experienced vets to pair with the young guys. I'd rather have more cap flexibility, more blue chip young talent on cheap deals, and take longer to get better but that's just a personal philosophy. Re-creating OKC is like catching lightning in a bottle, but they could have done things differently to maximize their future potential.

If there's no Gordon or Holliday on this roster (and they got Tyreke for a little less), then they could have absorbed all of those contracts from GSW for 2 firsts, 2 seconds, cash, and expiring deals. They could have used GSW's 2014 pick on a potential 3&D guy like McDaniels and had a beastly defensive core going forward with Payton, McDaniels, Davis, and Noel. Throw in Tyreke & RA off the bench for offensive purposes and that's a darn talented squad for years to come.

[qrich]

EJ will have a bounce back career once he's in a situation that he wants to be in.

Damn diva.

[miggyme1]

pelicans are stupid...tyreke evans is a pg!!!! idk y people cant see this..im not a gm and i can see it..hell he was a pg at memphis in college and his rookie year he ran the pg for the kings..his best season...kings became so enamored with his size that they mived him to the wing and started drafting small ass pgs that werent better than tyreke like jimmer and isiah thomas...i cant believe the pelicans refuse to play tyreke at the point.


id get rid of gordon and jrue...jrue is a middle of the pack pg at BEST..he looked promising a few seasons ago but ever since patrick beverely exposed him in the preseason i think a year ago...he has not been the same...point blank period.

[LoneyROY7]

EJ will have a bounce back career once he's in a situation that he wants to be in.

Damn diva.

Highly doubt it. The athleticism just isn't there anymore.