Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer recently spoke about how the Portland Trail Blazers were interested in trading for Jrue Holiday of the New Orleans Pelicans.
NBA Insider Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, spoke on a podcast recently about how the Portland Trail Blazers were looking into trading for Jrue Holiday of the New Orleans Pelicans.
Though we discussed a Holiday trade during the week before it was reported, O’Connor clarified this rumour by saying the Blazers were interested but that it was unlikely to happen as the Blazers didn’t have the right pieces to get it done.
Twitter account Hoop Central usually breaks this type of news after seeing rumors from writers or insiders. They reported on O’Connor’s rumor first.
I appreciate you sharing this but the context matters: Portland has already expressed interest but as I said on the podcast it’s highly unlikely anything happens. They don’t have the pieces that other teams do. It does, however, illustrate their intentions to bolster that teams.
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) November 14, 2020
When clarifying this trade rumor, O’Connor probably revealed what most people thought, the only piece the Blazers could use to make this type of deal, would be CJ McCollum. Without fully gutting the roster, CJ’s salary would be the only one that made sense under the league office’s CBA trade rules.
But, I think that trading CJ for Jrue doesn’t make sense, as the Blazers would lose too much offensively, even if they got better defensively.
As O’Connor says above, it is great to see that the Blazers are trying to improve their team, but a Jrue trade seems unlikely. Neil Olshey wants to improve this team for the playoffs, but it will likely result in a smaller trade; I can’t see him moving CJ in a trade for a max-type player.