Bleacher Report suggests Blazers trade for Justin Holiday
By Nate Mann
Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale suggested a trade between the Portland Trail Blazers and Chicago Bulls involving Justin Holiday.
All sports writers are releasing their final trade ideas before the deadline passes on Thursday. In Bleacher Report’s most recent installment of Everything You Need to Know About Your Team’s 2018 NBA Trade Deadline, author Dan Favale discussed a possible trade between the Blazers and Bulls.
Financial Standpoint
Let’s look at the contracts of these four players.
- Justin Holiday: Two years, $9 million (unrestricted free agent next summer).
- Jameer Nelson: One year, $2.2 million (unrestricted free agent this summer).
- Noah Vonleh: Four years, $11.5 million (restricted free agent this summer).
- Maurice Harkless: Four years, $42 million (unrestricted free agent in summer of 2020).
For the Blazers, this trade is a moderate salary dump.
Jameer Nelson earns roughly the same amount as Noah Vonleh this year. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent in the summer and Neil Olshey will likely see no reason to re-sign him.
Vonleh, on the other hand, is a restricted free agent after this season. Knowing what Olshey does with tenured bench forwards (Meyers Leonard), there’s a solid chance he overpays by matching competitive deals.
So while swapping Nelson and Vonleh changes very little this season, it provides Portland with more freedom this summer given Olshey’s free agency history.
Justin Holiday and Maurice Harkless bring the financial discrepancy.
Holiday becomes an unrestricted free agent one summer before Harkless. Plus, he’s getting paid nearly half as much as Moe is.
Not only do the Blazers save money next season with Holiday under contract, but also free up cap space heading in to the final two years of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum‘s contracts.
Overall, the move isn’t the major salary dump we all want so bad. However, moving one of Harkless, Leonard or Evan Turner‘s contracts while returning a reasonable player should be considered a success.
Team Fit Standpoint
Noah Vonleh and Maurice Harkless
The Blazers don’t need either Vonleh or Harkless, simple as that.
Vonleh lost his starting position early in the season and plays only in the event of a blowout. Harkless also lost his starting role and moved to the bottom of Terry Stotts’ rotational pecking order.
Although Moe has shown flashes of offensive prowess, his lack of consistency plagues an already brutally inconsistent Blazers team.
Neither player has a concrete spot in the rotation that’s become the go-to for Stotts, and can therefore go without hurting the team significantly.
Jameer Nelson and Justin Holiday
Nelson is a half-year rental for Portland. He’ll likely leave in the summer, which isn’t an issue as the Blazers already have an established backcourt rotation.
Justin Holiday is the reason behind this trade (besides shedding salary).
Holiday has blossomed on an injury-ridden Chicago Bulls team. He’s averaging 13.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.5 threes per game, all career-highs. Holiday isn’t the most efficient shooter though, making just 37.7% of his field goals and three-pointers.
With Dame and CJ the ingrained starters for Portland, Holiday would likely come off the bench. This would form a dynamic bench unit of:
PG: Shabazz Napier | SG: Pat Connaughton | SF: Justin Holiday | PF: Zach Collins | C: Ed Davis
Defensively, Collins and Davis make up for the slightly undersized lineup of either Connaughton or Holiday at small forward.
On the other end, Pat was the only player who spread the floor for Portland’s bench. Adding Holiday supplies Napier with more room to drive and combine with Davis down low.
This unit now has more reliable scoring options and just as great defense. Lillard and McCollum can rest together for once knowing the game is in good hands.
Next: Blazers rejecting trades for Lillard, McCollum
And of course there’s the second round pick Portland includes. Historically, very few second round picks turn a team around in their first few seasons – it’s merely to entice the rebuilding Bulls.
With Dame and CJ in their respective primes, the Blazers need players who contribute immediately. Holiday hugely benefits the reserves, and both he and Nelson provide Portland with much needed cap space leeway.