What to make of the Nuggets striking out on Jrue Holiday
The Denver Nuggets would have been better with Jrue Holiday but they’re better off without him.
It let the air out of a lot of people’s sails when the Milwaukee Bucks were able to agree to terms with the New Orleans Pelicans on a trade that would send Jrue Holiday to the Eastern Conference juggernaut. Especially those Denver Nuggets fans that had talked themselves into Holiday being the missing piece for a team poised to be a dangerous team for years to come.
However, with the Pelicans receiving a massive haul for Holiday that included George Hill, Eric Bledsoe and three first-round picks, those that believed that Denver shouldn’t get in on the Holiday Sweepstakes have to feel vindicated.
According to the Denver Post’s Mike Singer, the Nuggets themselves were stunned by the trade package that New Orleans received from Milwaukee.
Can say confidently the Nuggets were stunned by New Orleans’ total haul.
— Mike Singer (@msinger) November 17, 2020
Pelicans were never going to get close to that return with Denver.
Pelicans exploited Milwaukee’s fear of losing Giannis.
Nonetheless, as Singer rightly notes, the Nuggets had less of a need for Holiday than the Bucks. Milwaukee has been feeling the pressure to meet their championship expectations now that two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is just a year away from reaching free agency, knowing that the Greek Freak really would jump ship if the Bucks aren’t competitive enough.
Rumors about 2018 MVP James Harden’s desire to join the Brooklyn Nets with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving likely contributed to Milwaukee’s urgency as well, as forming a Big Three with Harden, KD and Irving would arguably lead to the Nets being the most formidable team in East.
That said, although Denver was unable to trade for Holiday, there are still a couple of other upper echelon players that they could look to acquire like Chicago Bulls shooting guard Zach LaVine and San Antonio Spurs wing DeMar DeRozan. Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward is another interesting option.
If they find that they can’t or prefer not to make a splash trade this offseason at all, the Nuggets have developed enough players internally to have a reasonable belief that they can take a step forward as a franchise by following that same path.
Should sharpshooting forward Michael Porter Jr. make the type of steady improvements to his game that Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic did, he could also become a star player. Bol Bol is another uniquely talented player who could be a key factor in Denver being a deadly team.
Next. Jerami Grant officially declines $9.3 million player option for 2020-21 season. dark
As it’s been mentioned before, perhaps the Nuggets’ destiny is to build themselves into a dynasty the way that the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors did; organically.
Holiday being traded to Milwaukee rather than Denver may just have been a blessing in disguise, especially as the veteran guard could have left the Nuggets as a free agent next offseason while the Pelicans got to enjoy the fruits of Denver’s recent drafts.