Following news of Damian Lillard’s blockbuster trade, the dominoes continue to fall as teams rush to make the most out of this opportunity to improve. Among the biggest of these dominoes is Jrue Holiday. Players who can score nearly 20 points a game with excellent shooting splits, above-average playmaking abilities, and All-Defensive Team level instincts don’t exactly grow on trees, so the Chicago Bulls should be paying close attention here.
Personally, he is one of my favorite players, so I might be a bit biased, but he could have a major impact on the Bulls. The thing is, how could the Bulls realistically land the star guard? Chicago doesn’t have a lot of assets, but I’ve tried to come up with some ideas, so let’s get into it.
4 ways the Bulls could potentially lay the foundation for a Jrue Holiday trade.
1. A straight-up veteran swap
- Bulls receive: Jrue Holiday
- Blazers receive: DeMar DeRozan, Andre Drummond
This is basically Jrue Holiday for the DeMar DeRozan trade. Andre Drummond is a cap filler with an expiring contract. Even though Holiday and DeRozan have L.A. ties, I don’t think that they could fit on the same team that seamlessly.
DeRozan will be expiring at the end of the season. He would steal minutes from Blazers young guys, but he also could be a teacher for them. DeRozan is a great scorer and crafty with the ball, knows how to draw fouls and get to the line. He averaged 21ppg over his career while taking only 1.5 threes per contest. He could teach a lot of those young guys. If for some reason, Blazers would decide to get rid of him, they could trade him as an expiring.
2. Re-negotiating to bring in James Harden
- Bulls receive: Jrue Holiday
- 76ers receive: DeMar DeRozan, Andre Drummond
- Blazers receive: James Harden
This is a fun one, but in reality is extremely unlikely to happen. Why would the Blazers want James Harden? They would probably sit him out until some proposals come in. He’s on an expiring contract, so at worst, you can wait until the end of the season. We saw some teams do that.
In the 76ers case, you would get a reliable scorer, who could replace Harden and play alongside Joel Embiid. They would still be a contender with this trade. In the Bulls’ case, I’ve mentioned the pros in the first proposal.
3. DeRozan joins a championship-caliber roster
- Bulls receive: Jrue Holiday
- Celtics receive: DeMar DeRozan
- Blazers receive: Malcolm Brogdon, Payton Pritchard, and Andre Drummond
If Boston could be convinced to bring DeMar off the bench and be their 6th man, the Celtics could be extremely dangerous. The question is, would DeMar accept that role? If he is, the Celtics would become title favorites.
In the Blazers case, they would get a solid veteran, who could show, how to be a true professional. Plus, he has pretty high trade value, so you could get stuff from him.
4. The ‘ideal’ trade for Jrue Holiday
- Bulls receive: Jrue Holiday
- Blazers receive: Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso, and Dalen Terry
This would be a significant win for the Bulls. They would have a starting five of Jrue, DeMar, LaVine, Williams, and Vucevic. Now, that would be a solid five, that could make some noise in the playoffs. Defensively they would stay pretty much the same, but offensively they would improve. Especially, if you could convince DeMar DeRozan to move more without the ball. And this trade might be more realistic than it could seem at first.
Blazers are not intent on winning. They want to get a high draft pick. Lonzo Ball will probably miss this whole season with an injury. If he can come back next season, fine. He could be a solid player for the Blazers backcourt. Alex Caruso is a solid guard, that you could use in your rotation, Plus, Lonzo’s contract expires in just two years, if he can’t get back on the court, you could let him go. Also, in this trade Bulls would likely add a pick or two to sway Portland.
This deal is my personal favorite, and the one most likely to actually take place if the Bulls and Blazers can come to terms on a deal.