Should Lakers Let Blazers Know What They Would Give up for Jrue Holiday?

While they can’t trade for Jrue Holiday until December 15, the Los Angeles Lakers should consider letting Blazers’ general manager Joe Cronin know what they would be willing to give up for Jrue if Portland were to wait.

The grand prize the Lakers could give the Blazers for waiting to trade Holiday would be their unprotected 2029 first round pick sandwiched between two pick swaps, the same draft capital they received for Dame.
While a half dozen contending teams are interested in trading for Holiday, the Blazers are reportedly seeking at least two first round picks for him. There’s a good chance the Lakers’ offer could be the best the Blazers get.

An unprotected Lakers post-LeBron first round pick is the gold standard for draft capital due to its top-5 potential and the Trailblazers could essentially end up with three of those picks for just waiting two and a half months.
By publicizing their potential offer, the Lakers could establish a market for Jrue Holiday that no other team could be willing or able to match. At worst, the offer would help the Blazers get for more for trading Jrue Holiday.

With Damian Lillard teaming up with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kris Middleton and Bradley Beal joining Kevin Durant and Kevin Booker, the Lakers likely need to add a third superstar before the deadline to keep up.
Trading for Jrue Holiday to create a Lakers big three with LeBron James and Anthony Davis would immediately catapult the Lakers into the NBA’s latest championship favorites tier along with Bucks, Suns, and Nuggets.

Let’s look at the proposed Jrue Holiday trade and why it’s a win-win for both the Lakers and Blazers, the team’s post-trade depth chart and rotation, and the team’s post-trade salary cap and the impact of a Jrue Holiday extension.

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Jrue Holiday Trade

There’s no available player who’s a better fit for what the Lakers need right now to complement LeBron and AD than Jrue Holiday, who’s 33-years old but has played the best basketball of his career the last three seasons.

But make no mistake, the unprotected 2029 pick and 2028 and 2030 pick swaps the Lakers would give up for 33-year old Jrue Holiday are the draft capital Los Angeles has been saving to replace 38-year old LeBron James. Strategically, the Lakers would not invest the draft capital to trade for Holiday unless they were essentially also willing to re-sign him long term as their third superstar and potential replacement for LeBron James.

Jrue Holiday would give the Lakers the best 3&D point guard in the league, Last year, he averaged 19.3 points, 5.1 boards, 7.4 assists, 1.6 stocks in 32.6 mpg shooting 47.9% from field, 38.4% from deep, and 85.9% from line. Holiday’s last three seasons with the Bucks have been the best of his career and have given him an opportunity to show why he is the best two-way point guard in the league today and worth the investment despite his age.

While playing in Milwaukee the last three seasons, Jrue Holiday averaged 18.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.8 assists, and 1.9 stocks in 32.5 mpg while shooting 49.4% from the field, 39.5% from deep, and 80.2% from the line. Defensively, Jrue made the NBA All-Defensive Team each of the last three years. He made All-Defensive 1st Team in 2023 and 2021 and All-Defensive 2nd Team in 2022. He’s now been 1st Team 3 times and 2nd Team 2 times.

There’s an argument pairing the league’s best frontcourt defender with the league’s best backcourt defender could catapult the Lakers into the catbird’s spot when it comes to winning playoff matchups and championships.

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Post-Trade Rotation

The key to the Jrue Holiday trade being a slam dunk winner from the Los Angeles Lakers’ standpoint is being able to trade for the perfect third star to complement James and Davis without giving up Reaves or Hachimura.

The L.A. Lakers new post-trade starting lineup would boast Jrue Holiday at point guard, Austin Reaves at shooting guard, Rui Hachimura at small forward, LeBron James at power forward, and Anthony Davis at center.
While Holiday has not had a great playoff record, there’s no question he would be a game-changing upgrade at point guard over D’Angelo Russell at both ends, especially defensively with his elite point-of-attack prowess.

The Lakers’ primary backups at each position would include Max Christie at point guard, Cam Reddish at shooting guard, Jarred Vanderbilt at small forward, Christian Wood at power forward, and Jaxson Hayes at center. Trading Vincent and Prince would cost the Lakers two proven primary backups but would fortunately also open needed rotation opportunities for Reddish and Hayes, two low risk, high reward players with real potential.

Since the Laker traded three players for Jrue Holiday, they would have an active roster with only twelve players, leaving three open roster spots that could be filled by signing free agents or by promoting two-way players.
Austin Reaves would probably fill the role of backup point guard as well as starting shooting guard but the Lakers could easily look to promote both D’Moi Hodge or Colin Castleton should they have a strong preseasons.

While trading for Holiday could backfire and end up costing the Lakers the draft capital they need to replace James, it also has the potential to bring home at least one and maybe two or three additional NBA championships.

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Post-Trade Salary Cap

There’s no way the Lakers would give up an unprotected first round pick and surrounding pick swaps for Jrue Holiday without tentatively agreeing upon a contract extension to sign and lock him up for three more years.

The above chart lays out the Lakers’ salary cap commitments for the next five years but does not include extensions for LeBron James or Jrue Holiday so the question is what happens should the Lakers extend both players?
Under the new CBA, there are competitive advantages to stay under the $172 million 1st tax apron and $182.5 million 2nd tax apron, which are both projected to increase 10% each season like the $136 million salary cap.

The above chart clearly shows the Lakers would still be able to stay below the 1st and 2nd tax aprons in 2023–24 and 2024–25 if James and Holiday declined their player options and signed extensions to start in 2025–26? Because of the expected 10% cap smoothing built into the new CBA due to the NBA’s new TV contracts, the Lakers should have more than $100 million available from 2025–26 on to cover increased pay for James and Holiday.

When you combine how rapidly the salary cap and tax aprons will grow with the team friendly contracts Rob Pelinka and his team have negotiated, the Lakers are poised to win now and after LeBron’s eventual retirement. Trading for Holiday should not only give LeBron motivation to sign an extension to play two more years with the Lakers but also a realistic shot at winning one or two more championships before he eventually retires.

Trading their unprotected 2029 pick and two pick swaps for 33-year old Jrue Holiday would be a gamble but Holiday is the proven elite two-way veteran point guard the Lakers need to transform this young team to champions.