Is the Jrue Holiday situation somewhat akin to the Asik situation?

There's a huge difference in the situation in that even before resigning Asik it was known that he had no long term future with the team. Right after it was signed MM told us that they Loomised the contract and made it with stretching after 3 years in mind.

I think the situation with Holiday is closer to Ryno with the Rockets. Ryno at $20 million is an overpay in most people's eyes, but would the Rockets really be better off with that $20 million spent another way? He's not the key to what they do, Harden is, but he's unlocked the key.

I really think Holiday's ability to guard 1-4 is a big key to the defense. Could you replace him with Rubio and a decent SG? Maybe, but if I had a choice I think I'd rather trade for Dragic and have Dragic/Holiday. There have been times where we really needed a 20-30 point game from one of the guards in addition to the 60+ AD/DC give us. I don't think you get that with a Rubio + Crabbe/Bazemore type, but I think you can with Dragic/Holiday.

No I am not. I top out about $25 million. If he gets $31 from Philly I tell Jrue congrats on all the money and execute plan B. But for me Plan A is trading for a PG while hoping the 76ers and Knicks stay away from Holiday.

Jrue is a major priority, but he is not the ONLY option and that gives us at least a modicum of negotiating power. Jrue is also much more talented and tradeable even with a bad contract. So it is different.

Dell left himself with no alternatives going into negotiations with Asik. I always said re-signing Asik was a terrible idea and we should have signed Bioymbo from the start and moved on.

We are in a bind with Jrue because I believe that resigning him is important to keeping AD happy and encouraging DC to reup. We also cannot really replace Jrue with similar talent and we always have to overpay for free agents. People need to accept that we are going to overpay Jrue, but at least we know what we are getting.

The good thing is that really we should be operating over the cap anyhow. So the difference between $25M per year and $30M per year does not matter as much.

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the difference between $25M per year and $30M per year does not matter as much.

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It matters because Holiday at $25 million is easier to dump than Holiday at $31 million if you have a shot at someone like John Wall in 2 years.

I say we let him walk, just for the injury history alone. Dude played his balls off because it was a contract year, I think what you saw from him this year is the best you get from him because he wants to get paid.

Look he is a decent player but like other poster have said this could seriously bite us in the arse if it doesn't work out. Way to much risk for a guy that before this year hasn't made it through a full season.

I hope I'm wrong but NOLA has terrible fricking luck with these type deals. I almost feel like whatever they want to do, do the exact opposite and it will work out.

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It matters because Holiday at $25 million is easier to dump than Holiday at $31 million if you have a shot at someone like John Wall in 2 years.

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I don't know if that even matters much. You would need to fit Wall's new salary in 2 years which is $30M. Is a team really going to not take Jrue in that situation because he makes $30M vs taking Jrue at $25M and another player at $5M?

I don't want to pay Jrue $30M because that will start to raise luxury tax issues. But I don't think that $5M/yr radically changes his value. It makes him more difficult to trade/less valuable, but in 2 years, he would only have 2 seasons left on the deal. Unless he is injured again, I don't think he would be difficult to move even at $30M. Similar to Dragic right now. People kind of thought the same thing with respect to giving him the near max. Granted it was before the new money, but he could be moved easily.

It might actually make sense for both sides to go for a 2+1 structured contract. If I were the Pels that's what I would pitch. Offer him close to his max on a 2+1 deal with a partial guarantee on the last season, which would basically make it an option year for both sides. It would take some of the risk away from the Pels, and if he plays well for the first two seasons he could opt out and be eligible for the 10+ max at that point.

ETA: something like 3 years 98 mil with only 10 mil guaranteed on the last year.

That isn't the whole picture though, you can keep Jrue and still make a trade for a PG or a wing and use the MLE for whichever you don't acquire by trade.