Orlando Magic: Four Players to potentially target in an Aaron Gordon trade
By Seth Arora
Target 2: Jrue Holiday
Why Him?
New Orleans Pelicans brass have apparently reversed course and made their star two-way guard available on the trade market, although general manager David Griffin publicly refuted this report.
While it would reportedly take “a significant amount” to get him, a star player who can score is available by trade. The Magic had interest back in April, and nothing with Orlando has changed. Jrue Holiday should certainly be a player still under consideration.
Why He Potentially Benefits Orlando
The idea would be to somehow keep Evan Fournier and allow Jrue Holiday to share the backcourt with him and Markell Fultz, though that would pose its own challenges.
Holiday, also having a down year, would perhaps thrive in an offense where he was not the sole focal point, bringing his usage rate down to more amenable levels. Giving the veteran more room to use his effort in other areas may actually help him thrive, as it did in 2018 and 2015.
Per game, he is putting up 19.4 points per game and 6.6 assists per game, making nearly two threes and collecting nearly three stocks. On offense, unlike DeMar DeRozan, Jrue Holiday is a three-point threat, albeit an imperfect one. He would force defenses to venture further away from the paint to account for him.
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He drives the ball more than almost anyone in the league and even though he has had his struggles on shots off of drives this season, that appears to be a career aberration.
The Magic have well-documented spacing issues. Holiday’s game would very likely help alleviate them, depending on who’s on the court with him.
Defensively, Jrue Holiday stands out. He leads the league in deflections per game (a darling stat of Steve Clifford), gets after loose balls, and challenges shots (opponents shoot 40.9 percent against him). He would fit right in with Clifford’s defensive emphasis and mindset.
While the Magic struggle mightily on offense and champion their defense, they are not exactly a defensive juggernaut, especially against teams with winning records. So having a player of Holiday’s caliber on both ends would only help.
Holiday’s salary would also allow the Magic to take an extended look at him, as he has two more years on his existing deal ($26.3 million this and next season) with a player option for a third.
While DeRozan could bolt after this season, the Magic would have the luxury of Holiday getting a complete season with the team under his belt before his player option kicks in.
It is also worth mentioning that by all accounts, Holiday is a consummate professional. This concept is not foreign to the current iteration of the Magic and its management, but Holiday is renowned throughout the league as a leader with a diligent approach to the game. Welcoming in a player like that certainly wouldn’t hurt.
Why He Is a Risk/Questions of Fit
For all the good that Jrue Holiday brings, the other side of the coin is whether the Pelicans would even want Aaron Gordon.
After all, he plays the same position as the face of their franchise, Zion Williamson. With an inability to stretch the defense with the threat of outside shooting, it is questionable where, exactly, Gordon would fit for New Orleans.
Whether Gordon would accept a bench role of some kind is another debate entirely. Not to mention what the Pelicans might then do with Brandon Ingram, who is having a breakout season for them.
There is also the issue of whether Gordon even commands the kind of value that would draw a player like Holiday.
New Orleans Pelicans
Gordon is in the midst of arguably his worst season. Even with Gordon’s often-discussed upside, defensive prowess and team-friendly contract, Holiday is a borderline All-Star. The Magic would likely have to give up another player of considerable value and potential to make a deal like this happen — the pelicans would be silly not to push for Mohamed Bamba under this hypothetical deal.
As for Holiday, he is a very good player but he is not quite the superstar the Magic need.
He is not an absolute knock-down scorer, though he is certainly more consistent game-to-game than Gordon in that regard. Strangely, like the Magic team as a whole, Holiday does not hit open shots at a high clip (though he makes up for it in making a high percentage of “tightly” defended shots).
The bigger issue is that he is undersized at 6-foot-3 to play shooting guard, which is a domino that would lead to other problems defensively.
If the Magic were to acquire Holiday and keep Fournier, someone would face a size mismatch on an almost nightly basis. As good as Isaac is, he would likely be responsible for providing help defense in the paint in the event that either Holiday or Fournier get overpowered by their defensive assignment.