The Miami Heat may have a chance towards acquiring veteran guard Jrue Holiday to improve their chances of making the playoffs this season. Holiday spent the past season with the Portland Trail Blazers after the Boston Celtics lost him to save salary cap space. Miami is reportedly interested in drastically improving the roster via their various trade chips to have a real chance at an NBA Championship next season.
Fadeaway World revealed the following trade package as the most realistic one, along with some logic behind it:
“Miami Heat Receive: Jrue Holiday
Portland Trail Blazers Receive: Andrew Wiggins, Jaime Jaquez Jr., 2031 second-round pick
This is actually a great trade idea because it solves two things at once. The Heat get a real veteran point guard, and the Trail Blazers get one young rotation player plus a large expiring contract for 2027.”
The trade would see the Heat losing Andrew Wiggins and Jaime Jaquez Jr. as the two main pieces. Portland would want to make Jaquez part of their young core moving forward and has already proven to be one of the best sixth men in the league. Wiggins could help the Trail Blazers next season, but he also has an expiring contract to make it easier to manage their roster moving forward.
Jrue Holiday Could Help Heat Land Giannis
Miami’s top prize this summer would clearly be Giannis Antetokounmpo since they have a lot of assets to trade and could add two players. The Milwaukee Bucks will reportedly look to trade Giannis if he refuses to sign a contract extension, as most expect.
Holiday has been named by Antetokounmpo as one of his favorite players. Milwaukee didn’t get over the hump in the Eastern Conference until they acquired Holiday from the New Orleans Pelicans. Holiday became a key contributor to both the Bucks and Boston Celtics winning their most recent NBA Championship.
Giannis would get one of his top preferred destinations of Miami and get to trade with a former teammate he loves and trusts. The Heat could still send Kel’el Ware as the main prospect, Tyler Herro as a former All-Star, and many picks to Milwaukee after acquiring Holiday rather easily.
Jrue Holiday Still Contributes To Winning Basketball
Portland had a season full of overachieving with a roster that most fans and pundits expected to miss the playoffs due to Damian Lillard’s injury. Former head coach Chauncey Billups was removed due to getting arrested for the gambling scandal and that could have killed their entire season.
Holiday started at point guard with both veteran leadership off the court and strong play on the court helping them reach the playoffs. Miami and other contending teams could find a perfect cheap addition to the roster via a Holiday trade this summer.
Portland could keep Holiday to compete next season, but his role will be limited with Lillard returning to the lineup. Scoot Henderson having a great postseason series means that he needs more minutes as a young guard if he remains on the roster. Holiday is expendable for the Trail Blazers and cheap enough for top teams to land him without giving up too much.
Miami Heat Trade Proposal Pitched For Blazers Guard Jrue Holiday