The Not So Good News
Holiday and his newly minted $125 million contract complicate matters quite a bit. He is the most expensive representation of the win-now M.O. the team has operated under for the last two offseasons. It will be nearly impossible to find a team with both cap space and need who is willing to take on the remainder of his contract, which will expire right when the Pels hope to be competitive again should they part with their franchise player.
With sweaty Omer Asik all but certain to pick up the player option on his contact, that means New Orleans will have almost $60 million tied up in Holiday, Hill, Asik, and E’Twaun Moore through the 2019-20 season. That’s a lot to pay for sunk costs.
It would be the necessary penalty for engaging in the business of a tank and a rebuild. That, plus the backlash of being the only team to trade away two no-doubt-about-it superstars about to enter their prime (Chris Paul being the other) in the last decade, may be enough to scare them off from any Davis deal.