Jrue Holiday

Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Holiday, Knicks, Nets

A recent piece from Keith Pompey at the Inquirer explores the upbringing of rookie Sixers point guard Michael Carter-Williams. Among the interesting details: Carter-Williams’ NBA salary is being deposited into a trust that he can’t touch for three years. The young Syracuse product is currently living off his endorsement deals with Nike and Panini trading cards. Here’s more from the Sixers and the Atlantic Division:

  • Evan Turner is having a career year for the Sixers, but Tom Moore of the Intelligencer reminds us that GM Sam Hinkie is willing to deal any of his players for the right price, as evidenced by the draft night deal that sent Jrue Holiday to the Pelicans.
  • Speaking of the Holiday deal, Christoper Vito from the Delaware County Daily Times reports that Holiday was surprised when he received the call to find out he had been traded (Twitter links).
  • Scott Souza of the MetroWest Daily News reports that Celtics Keith Bogans, MarShon Brooks, and Kris Humphries understand their roles on the team and don’t expect to see major minutes. Souza notes it’s a difficult situation for the trio of veterans since they can’t display their skills while riding the bench, and each of them figures to be a free agent come the end of the season.
  • We found out earlier today that most Hoops Rumors readers believe at least one New York team will make the playoffs, but Jason Kidd and Mike Woodson have yet to prove their 2013/14 squads can live up to preseason expectations. Tommy Beer and Alex Kennedy over at HoopsWorld named Kidd and Woodson, respectively, as the coaches that have disappointed them the most so far in the early going of the season.
  • One of the sole bright spots for the struggling Knicks has been the surprisingly effective play of offseason acquisition Andrea Bargnani. The former first overall pick is putting up much better numbers than he did last year in Toronto, but Keith Schlosser from the Knicks Journal suggests his presence might be having a negative impact on J.R. Smith‘s performance.

Sixers Notes: Holiday Brothers, Silas, Brown

The Sixers slipped below .500 with last night’s loss to the Pelicans, but somehow Philadelphia still leads a woeful Atlantic Division. The team’s 5-6 record is the sixth best in the Eastern Conference, so as we ponder whether the mediocrity of their opponents could allow the Sixers to remain in the playoff hunt all season, here’s the latest from Philly:

  • Jrue Holiday doesn’t have hard feelings for his old Sixers teammates, but he told reporters Saturday that it took only a “couple minutes” for him to get over his trade to the Pelicans once he realized who his new teammates would be. Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer has the details.
  • Holiday’s older brother is drawing interest from an Italian team. Vuelle Pesaro is eyeing Justin Holiday, though no deal is imminent, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. Justin Holiday played for the Sixers last season and was in camp with the Jazz last month.
  • Another shooting guard who had a cup of coffee with the Sixers is also in the mix overseas. Xavier Silas has signed with Maccabi Ashdod in Israel, tweets Sportando contributor David Pick. Silas played a pair of games for Philly at the end of the 2011/12 season and was in camp this fall with the Wizards.
  • Sixers coach Brett Brown has brought the player development chops he honed as a Spurs assistant to Philadelphia, observes Tom Moore of the Bucks County Courier Times.

Western Notes: Leonard, Bogut, Holiday

A few note from around the Western Conference.

Pelicans, Sixers Finalize Trade

The Pelicans and Sixers have officially announced their swap involving Jrue Holiday and Nerlens Noel, a trade that was agreed upon on draft night but held up until after the July Moratorium. The Pelicans bring aboard Holiday and Pierre Jackson, the 42nd pick in last month's draft, in exchange for Noel and a 2014 first-round draft choice. The 2014 pick will remain with the Pelicans if it falls in the top five. 

The delay in finalizing the trade stemmed from the Pelicans' inability to absorb Holiday's $9,213,484 salary until the NBA's calendar flipped over to 2013/14 this month, and the newlywed Holiday's honeymoon caused a further holdup. The 23-year-old point guard is now finally entrenched in New Orleans, where he'll begin drawing paychecks from the four-year, $41MM extension he signed last October with the Sixers a few months before making his first All-Star appearance.

Noel, who seemed the odds-on favorite to become the No. 1 pick last month, heads to Philadelphia after slipping to the No. 6 spot in the draft. The 7'0" center from Kentucky will miss the first part of the season recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in his only collegiate season. The 5'10" Jackson, the other 2013 draftee involved in the swap, heads to New Orleans after distinguishing himself as a point guard at Baylor.

That protection attached to the 2014 first-rounder extends in perpetuity, so if the Pelicans wind up with a string of top-five picks over the next few years, they won't have to give them up, as Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. For additional details about the swap, see our post about the initial agreement

Pelicans To Acquire Jrue Holiday For Noel, ’14 Pick

JULY 10TH, 2:08pm: The trade between the Pelicans and Sixers is now official, according to Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com (via Twitter). However, Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News says (via Twitter) that it won't be finalized until at least tomorrow, since Holiday is on his honeymoon and is unavailable to complete the paperwork.

JUNE 28TH, 6:17pm: Sixers GM Sam Hinkie has confirmed that the 2014 first-rounder headed from New Orleans to Philadelphia is top-five protected, reports Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com (Twitter link).

1:07am: The deal won't become official until July 10th, tweets Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press. That makes sense, since the Pelicans won't have room to absorb Holiday's salary until their cap room becomes available in July.

JUNE 27TH, 7:52pm: Ford now tweets that the pick headed to Philadelphia is top-five protected for 2014, and ESPN.com's Marc Stein backs up the report (via Twitter).

7:33pm: ESPN.com's Chad Ford tweets that the 2014 first-rounder headed to Philadelphia is top-three protected, while TNT's David Aldridge tweets it's lottery-protected. Given Wojnarowski's assertion that the protection is "light," Ford's report makes more sense, but we'll have to wait for confirmation.

7:26pm: The Pelicans will also receive this year's 42nd overall pick from the Sixers in the deal, tweets Wojnarowski.

7:22pm: After unexpectedly snagging Nerlens Noel sixth overall, the Pelicans will send him to the 76ers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (all Twitter links). The Pelicans will receive Jrue Holiday and will also send a 2014 first-round pick in 2014 to Philadelphia, Wojnarowski reports, adding that the pick is expected to have "light protection" (Twitter link). Chris Broussard of ESPN.com first tweeted that Noel would be on the move.

Odds & Ends: Mavericks, Most Improved, George

With six games on the NBA docket tonight, let's round up any odds and ends from around the Association here:

Aldridge On Raptors, Varejao, LeBron, Thunder

TNT's David Aldridge checks in as usual on a Monday with his Morning Tip column at NBA.com, and this week's edition is full of trade rumors as talk heats up around the league. Here's a digest of Aldridge's latest scuttlebutt, with a heavy focus on the Raptors.

  • While Andrea Bargnani's elbow injury will keep him out for a month, delaying trade talk, one rival GM is convinced he'll eventually be leaving the Raptors, feeling as though there's no doubt GM Bryan Colangelo will trade him.
  • The Raptors are leery of adding another international player, according to Aldridge, which would make them reluctant to trade for Pau Gasol
  • Aldridge speculates the Raptors won't deal Jose Calderon to the Lakers, and instead ship him somewhere for a draft pick to create a massive trade exception. Aldridge writes that such a trade exception would be $15.6MM, but I believe it would be closer to $10.6MM, reflecting Calderon's salary.
  • A league executive speculates that the Cavs will hold on to Varejao through the summer of 2014, when LeBron James can become a free agent, so they can make a pitch to their erstwhile superstar. In any case, the Cavs have set Varejao's asking price too high for other teams' tastes, as they often do with their many of their players, according to Aldridge.
  • Though the Thunder are reportedly content to stand pat for now, Aldridge believes they could try to move the Raptors pick they got from the Rockets in the James Harden trade, speculating that one of their targets could be Varejao.
  • Aldridge spoke with a GM who joins the seeming consensus that the Jazz are more likely to deal Paul Millsap than Al Jefferson. The GM believes Jefferson is a better fit with Derrick Favors
  • The Bucks want an upgrade at small forward, and Aldridge thinks the team is more likely to move "one of its undersized four or oversized threes" than trade Brandon Jennings or Monta Ellis.
  • The Wizards are open to trading one of their big men for veteran help at the point, where they're woefully thin in John Wall's absence.
  • The Pacers are willing to tinker, but aren't putting Paul George or George Hill on the table.
  • No one aside from Jrue Holiday is off-limits as the Sixers seek a big man, though it would take a lot to pry Thaddeus Young or Evan Turner from their hands.

Atlantic Notes: Shumpert, Sixers, Celtics

The latest news and notes from around the Atlantic Division:

Sixers, Jrue Holiday Agree To Extension

11:54pm: The team has sent out a press release confirming the deal.

"Jrue is both an outstanding player and an important part of our future," owner Josh Harris said. "We are very excited to keep a player of Jrue's caliber in Philadelphia and truly look forward to further building the 76ers legacy around his leadership."

11:13pm: The Sixers and Jrue Holiday have agreed to an extension, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Stein reports the deal is worth four years and $41MM, but Sam Amick of USA Today hears that incentives could bring the deal to $46MM (Twitter links).The extension appeared to be a 50-50 proposition earlier today, when Holiday was reportedly seeking $12-13MM annually, so it appears the team got him to make some concessions. 

The deal was reached with seven minutes to spare before the 11pm Central deadline for rookie-scale extensions, tweets TNT's David Aldridge. It comes on the heels of extensions for fellow point guards Ty Lawson and Stephen Curry, and his could be the least lucrative of the three depending on whether he reaches the incentives. The Sixers will likely have about $45.5MM on the books for 2013/14, meaning a new max deal for Andrew Bynum would put them over the cap at about $63.5MM, giving them fairly limited flexibility next summer.

Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors predicted an offer worth $40MM over four years back in August, but said he wouldn't have been surprised if Holiday declined that offer and played out the season to show off for suitors in restricted free agency. The 22-year-old UCLA product saw his numbers decline virtually across the board last season, including a dip from 6.5 assists per game to 4.5 in less than two fewer minutes per contest. Still, his scoring per 36 minutes has increased with each season in the league, just as his turnovers per 36 minutes have gone down. 

Extension Rumors: Gibson, Casspi, Curry

This year's deadline for extension-eligible fourth-year players to sign new deals is just hours away, arriving at 11:00pm CT today. Blake Griffin, Serge Ibaka, and Ty Lawson came into the day as the only players with new contracts, while Stephen Curry reached an unexpected agreement with the Warriors this morning and James Harden agreed to a maximum deal with the Rockets this afternoon. Will we see any other extensions signed before the night is out? We'll track today's extension-related rumors and rumblings right here:

  • Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago reports Taj Gibson is seeking a four-year extension worth $40MM while the Bulls are offering $32MM. Sam notes a $36MM figure in the middle would be equal to what fellow forwards Ryan Anderson and Jeff Green got over the summer, and less than the $10MM or more Sam believes Gibson could command as a restricted free agent next summer (All Twitter links).

Earlier updates:

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