Milwaukee Bucks: 5 veteran guards that could be trade targets

Milwaukee Bucks: 5 veteran guards that could be trade targets – Jrue Holiday

The trade winds have and continue to breeze around veteran New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday.

Holiday’s importance to the Pelicans is established at this point. Yet the Pelicans’ desire to seamlessly thread the needle between rebuilding and remaining competitive in the Western Conference did not net them a playoff berth down in the bubble and it saw veteran head coach Alvin Gentry promptly take the fall for it.

With so much unsettled for the present and focusing on the long-term future with Zion Williamson firmly at the front of it, Holiday gives them the trade piece they can cash in to further build around Williamson and fits the overall timeline of the club.

To that end, the Bucks don’t have many pieces that they’d be willing to part with that fit that line of thinking, aside from the limited draft assets they do have. Holiday’s $25.3 million is more digestible from Milwaukee’s perspective and a package of Bledsoe, Ilyasova and Wilson is the launching point for trade talks. However, any and all future draft assets will only sweeten the pot to make it worth New Orleans’ while to part with Holiday.

After all, Holiday remains one of the best two-way guards in the league and the Bucks wouldn’t lose any of their defensive steel on the perimeter with the 30-year-old on board after having been a two-time All-Defense selection. Any past injury concerns surrounding Holiday and previous stress fractures in his legs have disappeared from the discussion, though will return once he returns to free agency at the end of his current deal.

A veteran guard that’s in or nearing the tail end of his prime, Holiday will and should be in great demand around the league and the Bucks will have to make an aggressive offer in order to make an upgrade for a player of his caliber.