Trade Rumors: Should the Kings go after Jrue Holiday?

Now that Damian Lillard is officially a Milwaukee Buck, Jrue Holiday is the next big name on the trade market. To get Lillard, the Bucks had to send their beloved point guard to the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Trail Blazers are expected to trade Holiday for draft picks and young players that can help their rebuild, and they have already received plenty of attention all around the league. Holiday is the type of player every contender could use to push them over the edge and a cheaper option or consolation prize for all the teams that were interested in Lillard.

The Kings were not interested in Lillard, but should they enter the bidding war for Jrue Holiday?

What would it take to get Jrue Holiday?

While the Kings would not have to give up one of their core pieces in De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, and Keegan Murray, trading for Holiday would still be pricey. For an All-Star guard that is to be expected, but the fact that many win-now teams are interested in him will likely drive up the price even more.

Holiday helped bring the Bucks a title, he is a proven playoff performer, one of the best two-way players in the game, and is coming off one of the best offensive seasons of his career. Depending on where he ends up, his move could largely affect the NBA’s power dynamics.

That being said the Trail Blazers will want draft picks and a young player on his rookie deal among other things. For the Kings, that means that Davion Mitchell would most likely have to be included in the deal along with picks and Kevin Huerter, for example.

How would Holiday fit in with the Kings?

Holiday is the kind of player who can fit in pretty much anywhere. He can take on the toughest defensive assignments, orchestrate the offense, play off the ball at times, and stretch the floor. Last season, he averaged 19.3 points on 47.9 percent shooting on field goals and 38.4 percent on threes, 5.1 rebounds, 7.4 assists, and 1.2 steals.

That production would easily make him the second or third-best player on the Kings, but he put up those numbers without another ball-dominant guard next to him. De’Aaron Fox is the Kings’ centerpiece, and the offensive fit between him and Holiday is not ideal.

While the former Bucks point guard can play off the ball if needed, it is not necessarily where he has excelled over his career. Furthermore, the Kings could also never quite figure out the fit between Fox and Tyrese Haliburton.

Defensively, the fit would be much smoother. The Kings were not a great defensive team last season. They have virtually no rim protection, and their one true lock-down on-ball defender is coming off the bench and struggles to score consistently enough to stay on the court for big minutes.

Judging by their offseason moves, the Kings will once again rely on outscoring opponents while waiting on internal improvement, meaning that Mitchell finds his jumper and plays more, Fox continues to grow as a defender, and Keegan Murray takes a big step on that end of the floor.

This might still take a while, though. Jrue Holiday would provide immediate defensive improvement in the starting lineup.