It’s a Holiday weekend for several teams around the NBA.
The question many teams are asking themselves right now: how much would we give up for Jrue Holiday? Could we give Holiday an extension?
We all know Holiday is available via trade. Several teams interested in Holiday believe he prefers to be in a situation where he can win and potentially sign an extension. Will Portland send Holliday to a destination of his choice? I don’t know. Entering the weekend, the Knicks and Clippers were among a presumably large group of teams with known interest in Holiday.
The Knicks have the draft capital to make a strong offer. They can send out several different combinations of players to make the math work.
Does the 33-year-old fit New York’s timeline?
That’s up for debate. But if you know anything about the Knicks, you know it would be frowned upon if they took a step backwards this season after last year’s 47-win campaign. The Knicks need to win games. Holiday is one of the NBA’s top defenders. So he would certainly help the Knicks from that perspective.
Whether he helps the Knicks’ win total depends, in part, on who the club sends out in a hypothetical trade.
Portland, presumably, values draft capital at the moment. The Knicks own the rights to four future first-round picks (most of them are significantly protected). They also have all of their own first-rounders moving forward.
If the Knicks acquire Holiday, they’d do so with the idea of extending him or re-signing him as a free agent.
So New York would have a backcourt of Holiday and Jalen Brunson locked in for several seasons.
If the Knicks don’t land Holiday, the next best thing for the franchise is that he ends up on a Western Conference team.
If Boston, Philadelphia or Miami land Holiday, it strengthens an Eastern Conference contender.
