Inside Jrue Holiday’s 2017 contract negotiations that changed Pelicans history由JabariIverson 发表在翻译团招工部 https://bbs.hupu.com/fyt-store
Unrestricted free agency is rarely a place where small-market teams like the Pelicans find profound success.
In most cases, when teams like New Orleans make headlines in this arena it’s either because its big-name player is leaving for greener pastures or it’s overpaying a lesser-known player with hopes of striking gold.
Going into the summer of 2017, the Pelicans had never seen a player of Jrue Holiday’s caliber — a 26-year-old former All-Star — choose the Crescent City as his desired destination when given the freedom to sign with any team. But Holiday signed a massive five-year, $126 million deal that offseason to make New Orleans his home.
It’s the largest contract the team has ever handed out to an unrestricted free agent, and it goes down as one of the most important free-agent deals in franchise history.
At the time, the deal was viewed as a must in order to surround franchise cornerstones Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins with the backcourt companion they needed to battle the best in the West.
Three years after signing his new contract, Holiday stands as the longest-tenured player on the roster and the most revered member of the franchise. He’s earned the respect of the fanbase for his loyalty and leadership during the departures of Davis and Cousins.
I recently spoke to several of the people involved in Holiday’s negotiations that year to review what turned out to be one of the most eventful contract seasons in recent history.
But first, let’s look back at where things stood before that season started:
Leading up to 2016-17 season
The 2016 offseason will go down as one of the biggest free-agent spending sprees in league history, and unsurprisingly, the year when some of the worst contracts in league history were signed.
Nicolas Batum secured a deal worth $120 million. Chandler Parsons got $98.5 million. Evan Turner signed for $70 million.
The top point guard on the market, Mike Conley, signed for a whopping $153 million.
The Pelicans avoided making it rain with the rest of the league, allowing prominent free agents Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon to sign elsewhere. They instead elected to issue a combined $86 million to unproven role players Solomon Hill and E’Twaun Moore in hopes of finding a diamond in the rough. (That didn’t turn out so well.)
The biggest issue for Holiday heading into his contract year was that so many teams would be hesitant to give out huge deals after the madness that ensued in 2016.
Dallas, Utah, Minnesota, Brooklyn and Indiana were among the teams interested in pursuing Holiday at the time, per several sources.
The Pelicans could’ve freed up around $14 million in cap space if they allowed Holiday and a few others to walk, but in this market it was tough to find a quality starting point guard without spending at least $20 million in free agency.
New Orleans was determined to make things work with Holiday, even after he missed a total of 107 games over the previous three seasons due to injuries. A few teams tried to sneak in and steal Holiday away, but the Pelicans wouldn’t budge.
“I can’t tell you how many times we would get calls about trading Jrue, but we never wanted to give him up,” said one member of the front office who is no longer with the team. “We knew how valuable he was going to be for us.”
The Pelicans guard was looking forward to finally going into training camp injury-free for the first time in years, but something much bigger than basketball took him away from the team again.
Family matters
Just before the 2016-17 season, Holiday received news that shook him to his core: His wife, Lauren, was diagnosed with a brain tumor while she was pregnant with their first child.
Holiday faced a level of fear and anxiety that he’d never experienced before. Doctors informed Lauren, a two-time Olympic gold medal winner with the U.S. women’s soccer team, that she couldn’t undergo surgery until after she gave birth to their daughter.
Jrue would miss the start of the season to tend to his family.
Being away from the team was tough for the Pelicans guard, but the team tried to find ways to cheer him up and make him feel part of the group.
One gesture in particular that stuck with Holiday was when a small group of people with the team visited Jrue and Lauren in North Carolina, where the procedure was set to occur.
About two weeks before the start of training camp, Pelicans owner Tom Benson chartered a jet for several members of the team to visit the Holiday family. Members of the party included head coach Alvin Gentry, general manager Dell Demps, Davis and a few other players, including Tim Frazier and Dante Cunningham.
Holiday and his teammates put in an intense workout at Duke University less than an hour after the jet landed, and he felt like he was part of the team again. But it wasn’t just the workout that stuck with Holiday.
It was the dinner he had that night with his wife and everyone with the team that made the trip. They laughed, shared stories and provided a needed distraction from what the Holidays were facing in the coming weeks. More than anything, it reminded Jrue how much the people at that table felt like his family, and there’s nothing that matters more to him than family.
That experience was a big reason why New Orleans was in such a great position to re-sign him the following summer.
As much as he cared about basketball, Holiday wanted to be with a team where he felt a bond that was bigger than the game.
“A big part of it for me is family. This organization and this city has treated us like family,” Holiday said at a press conference following his signing in 2017. “Obviously, my family has been through a little bit of a hiccup, and the organization definitely helped take care of us. So coming back here was an easy choice.”
Jrue’s back, but struggles continue
While Holiday was away from the team, the Pelicans came out of the gates looking like one of the worst teams in the league. Even with a talent such as Davis coming into his own, they struggled to put a win on the board.
On Opening Night, Davis accounted for 50 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, five steals and four blocks. Even with his herculean effort, the Pelicans went on to lose to a Nuggets team that finished the year under .500.
Two nights later, Davis went for 45 points and 17 rebounds against Golden State and lost again. New Orleans lost eight in a row to start the season and went 2-10 overall before Holiday returned. It was about as disastrous a start as the team could’ve imagined without its second-best player, and Davis’ frustration was apparent.
Holiday’s return sparked an immediate four-game winning streak for the Pelicans. But even he couldn’t hide some of the glaring holes that still existed on the roster. The Pelicans were 13 games under .500 as the All-Star break approached, and they knew something drastic had to occur.
There was a growing sense within the organization that Holiday was starting to contemplate what his next move would be if they couldn’t find a way to turn it around.
They needed a big splash, and it arrived with the biggest trade in franchise history.
Boogie’s arrival
On the night of the 2017 All-Star Game — which coincidently was hosted in New Orleans — the Pelicans made a blockbuster trade for Cousins, one of the most controversial figures in the league at the time.
There was no questioning Cousins’ remarkable talent, but his past antics on and off the floor left many wondering if he would be a detriment to building a winning environment.
It was clear from the start how well Cousins and Davis fit together — the NBA had never seen a big-man duo produce at such a high level on both ends of the court. But it often felt like Holiday was the odd man out.
As expected, Holiday’s offensive touches dipped dramatically and his role would often fluctuate from night to night because of Cousins’ ability to create shots for himself and others as a non-traditional “point center.” Holiday was forced to take a step back — and he had a hard time adjusting to it.
Even after acquiring Cousins, the Pelicans finished the season 34-48, missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year. But there was some momentum going into the offseason.
The feeling around the organization was that, with a few minor tweaks, the Pelicans had the foundation in place to make some noise in the West if their core pieces could stay healthy.
And even more important, it allowed the front office to sell Holiday on a future in New Orleans that involved winning.
“It gave us hope going into the next season,” a former member of the front office said. “We desperately needed that.”
Getting the deal done
The Pelicans made it clear that re-signing Holiday was their No. 1 priority that offseason.
There would be some competition for his services, but the task got easier for New Orleans as teams filled their voids at point guard.
The Brooklyn Nets traded for D’Angelo Russell. Utah traded for Ricky Rubio. Dallas drafted Dennis Smith Jr. with its first-round pick.
The decision to pay Holiday became even easier for the Pelicans once it became clear how much money it would take to land some of the other guards that headed into free agency that summer. If players like Jeff Teague and George Hill were demanding $20+ million on the open market, it wouldn’t hurt as much to give Holiday that kind of deal, even with his injury history.
But they still had to convince Holiday to sign off on the deal.
Since they owned Holiday’s Bird Rights, the Pelicans knew they could offer him more than what he was probably going to get on the open market. However, the Pelicans front office wanted to make sure they brought out all stops during the team’s formal meeting with Holiday when free agency began at midnight on July 1, 2017.
During that meeting, the Pelicans sold Holiday on his future in New Orleans and what the team was hoping to build with its new Big 3 featuring Holiday, Davis and Cousins. But selling that vision wouldn’t be complete without the input of the other two members in the trio.
The Pelicans played videos from Davis and Cousins during the meeting that made it clear how important Holiday was to their future plans.
Davis’ video focused on how much he wanted to finish what they started and how much Holiday meant to him on and off the court.
Cousins’ video, on the other hand, was short and went directly to the point:
“There were a few expletives in there and he basically ended it with a threat,” said one person who attended the meeting. “It was everything you’d expect from DeMarcus. Jrue thought it was hilarious.”
Holiday was moved by the presentation, but he told the team he wanted to sleep on his decision and speak with his family before announcing his intentions.
About six hours later, Holiday informed the team that he intended to stick around. It was an incredible turnaround for him, signing the biggest contract of his career less than one year removed from some of the darkest moments of his life.
The aftermath
Once the details of the deal emerged, there were some experts who said the Pelicans overpaid slightly for Holiday because of his injury history and the way he struggled to adapt after Cousins came around.
His struggles even extended into the beginning of the 2017-18 season, but once he got himself where he needed to be physically and mentally, he hasn’t looked back.
He took his game to another level late in the year after Cousins’ Achilles tear and helped the Pelicans reach the postseason for the first time in three seasons. Holiday put up some historic numbers during that playoff run and went toe-to-toe with elite guards like Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Stephen Curry.
After that run, there weren’t any more questions about Holiday’s fit or if he deserved the amount of money he was given the previous summer. Some members of the Pelicans’ previous regime even admit that Holiday’s $126 million contract was a bit of an overpay, but it’s well worth it when you get to keep a talent like that on the roster.
“We knew it was a slight overpay, but nobody was calling it an overpay when he was first-team All-Defense and we were in the second round of the playoffs,” said one former member of the front office. “Sometimes you have to live with giving up a little more if you believe in the talent.”
Even though they paid a premium, keeping Holiday looked genius compared to some of the other 2017 contracts.
That belief has paid off more than the organization could ever imagine. Holiday’s role keeping the locker room together during tumultuous times the past few years has been invaluable, and he’s developed into one of the best two-way players in the league during his late 20s (he turned 30 in June).
Holiday’s contract turned out to be one of the most important deals in franchise history.
Unrestricted free agency is rarely a place where small-market teams like the Pelicans find profound success.
In most cases, when teams like New Orleans make headlines in this arena it’s either because its big-name player is leaving for greener pastures or it’s overpaying a lesser-known player with hopes of striking gold.
Going into the summer of 2017, the Pelicans had never seen a player of Jrue Holiday’s caliber — a 26-year-old former All-Star — choose the Crescent City as his desired destination when given the freedom to sign with any team. But Holiday signed a massive five-year, $126 million deal that offseason to make New Orleans his home.
It’s the largest contract the team has ever handed out to an unrestricted free agent, and it goes down as one of the most important free-agent deals in franchise history.
At the time, the deal was viewed as a must in order to surround franchise cornerstones Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins with the backcourt companion they needed to battle the best in the West.
Three years after signing his new contract, Holiday stands as the longest-tenured player on the roster and the most revered member of the franchise. He’s earned the respect of the fanbase for his loyalty and leadership during the departures of Davis and Cousins.
I recently spoke to several of the people involved in Holiday’s negotiations that year to review what turned out to be one of the most eventful contract seasons in recent history.
But first, let’s look back at where things stood before that season started:
Leading up to 2016-17 season
The 2016 offseason will go down as one of the biggest free-agent spending sprees in league history, and unsurprisingly, the year when some of the worst contracts in league history were signed.
Nicolas Batum secured a deal worth $120 million. Chandler Parsons got $98.5 million. Evan Turner signed for $70 million.
The top point guard on the market, Mike Conley, signed for a whopping $153 million.
The Pelicans avoided making it rain with the rest of the league, allowing prominent free agents Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon to sign elsewhere. They instead elected to issue a combined $86 million to unproven role players Solomon Hill and E’Twaun Moore in hopes of finding a diamond in the rough. (That didn’t turn out so well.)
The biggest issue for Holiday heading into his contract year was that so many teams would be hesitant to give out huge deals after the madness that ensued in 2016.
Dallas, Utah, Minnesota, Brooklyn and Indiana were among the teams interested in pursuing Holiday at the time, per several sources.
The Pelicans could’ve freed up around $14 million in cap space if they allowed Holiday and a few others to walk, but in this market it was tough to find a quality starting point guard without spending at least $20 million in free agency.
New Orleans was determined to make things work with Holiday, even after he missed a total of 107 games over the previous three seasons due to injuries. A few teams tried to sneak in and steal Holiday away, but the Pelicans wouldn’t budge.
“I can’t tell you how many times we would get calls about trading Jrue, but we never wanted to give him up,” said one member of the front office who is no longer with the team. “We knew how valuable he was going to be for us.”
The Pelicans guard was looking forward to finally going into training camp injury-free for the first time in years, but something much bigger than basketball took him away from the team again.
Family matters
Just before the 2016-17 season, Holiday received news that shook him to his core: His wife, Lauren, was diagnosed with a brain tumor while she was pregnant with their first child.
Holiday faced a level of fear and anxiety that he’d never experienced before. Doctors informed Lauren, a two-time Olympic gold medal winner with the U.S. women’s soccer team, that she couldn’t undergo surgery until after she gave birth to their daughter.
Jrue would miss the start of the season to tend to his family.
Being away from the team was tough for the Pelicans guard, but the team tried to find ways to cheer him up and make him feel part of the group.
One gesture in particular that stuck with Holiday was when a small group of people with the team visited Jrue and Lauren in North Carolina, where the procedure was set to occur.
About two weeks before the start of training camp, Pelicans owner Tom Benson chartered a jet for several members of the team to visit the Holiday family. Members of the party included head coach Alvin Gentry, general manager Dell Demps, Davis and a few other players, including Tim Frazier and Dante Cunningham.
Holiday and his teammates put in an intense workout at Duke University less than an hour after the jet landed, and he felt like he was part of the team again. But it wasn’t just the workout that stuck with Holiday.
It was the dinner he had that night with his wife and everyone with the team that made the trip. They laughed, shared stories and provided a needed distraction from what the Holidays were facing in the coming weeks. More than anything, it reminded Jrue how much the people at that table felt like his family, and there’s nothing that matters more to him than family.
That experience was a big reason why New Orleans was in such a great position to re-sign him the following summer.
As much as he cared about basketball, Holiday wanted to be with a team where he felt a bond that was bigger than the game.
“A big part of it for me is family. This organization and this city has treated us like family,” Holiday said at a press conference following his signing in 2017. “Obviously, my family has been through a little bit of a hiccup, and the organization definitely helped take care of us. So coming back here was an easy choice.”
Jrue’s back, but struggles continue
While Holiday was away from the team, the Pelicans came out of the gates looking like one of the worst teams in the league. Even with a talent such as Davis coming into his own, they struggled to put a win on the board.
On Opening Night, Davis accounted for 50 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, five steals and four blocks. Even with his herculean effort, the Pelicans went on to lose to a Nuggets team that finished the year under .500.
Two nights later, Davis went for 45 points and 17 rebounds against Golden State and lost again. New Orleans lost eight in a row to start the season and went 2-10 overall before Holiday returned. It was about as disastrous a start as the team could’ve imagined without its second-best player, and Davis’ frustration was apparent.
Holiday’s return sparked an immediate four-game winning streak for the Pelicans. But even he couldn’t hide some of the glaring holes that still existed on the roster. The Pelicans were 13 games under .500 as the All-Star break approached, and they knew something drastic had to occur.
There was a growing sense within the organization that Holiday was starting to contemplate what his next move would be if they couldn’t find a way to turn it around.
They needed a big splash, and it arrived with the biggest trade in franchise history.
Boogie’s arrival
On the night of the 2017 All-Star Game — which coincidently was hosted in New Orleans — the Pelicans made a blockbuster trade for Cousins, one of the most controversial figures in the league at the time.
There was no questioning Cousins’ remarkable talent, but his past antics on and off the floor left many wondering if he would be a detriment to building a winning environment.
It was clear from the start how well Cousins and Davis fit together — the NBA had never seen a big-man duo produce at such a high level on both ends of the court. But it often felt like Holiday was the odd man out.
As expected, Holiday’s offensive touches dipped dramatically and his role would often fluctuate from night to night because of Cousins’ ability to create shots for himself and others as a non-traditional “point center.” Holiday was forced to take a step back — and he had a hard time adjusting to it.
Even after acquiring Cousins, the Pelicans finished the season 34-48, missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year. But there was some momentum going into the offseason.
The feeling around the organization was that, with a few minor tweaks, the Pelicans had the foundation in place to make some noise in the West if their core pieces could stay healthy.
And even more important, it allowed the front office to sell Holiday on a future in New Orleans that involved winning.
“It gave us hope going into the next season,” a former member of the front office said. “We desperately needed that.”
Getting the deal done
The Pelicans made it clear that re-signing Holiday was their No. 1 priority that offseason.
There would be some competition for his services, but the task got easier for New Orleans as teams filled their voids at point guard.
The Brooklyn Nets traded for D’Angelo Russell. Utah traded for Ricky Rubio. Dallas drafted Dennis Smith Jr. with its first-round pick.
The decision to pay Holiday became even easier for the Pelicans once it became clear how much money it would take to land some of the other guards that headed into free agency that summer. If players like Jeff Teague and George Hill were demanding $20+ million on the open market, it wouldn’t hurt as much to give Holiday that kind of deal, even with his injury history.
But they still had to convince Holiday to sign off on the deal.
Since they owned Holiday’s Bird Rights, the Pelicans knew they could offer him more than what he was probably going to get on the open market. However, the Pelicans front office wanted to make sure they brought out all stops during the team’s formal meeting with Holiday when free agency began at midnight on July 1, 2017.
During that meeting, the Pelicans sold Holiday on his future in New Orleans and what the team was hoping to build with its new Big 3 featuring Holiday, Davis and Cousins. But selling that vision wouldn’t be complete without the input of the other two members in the trio.
The Pelicans played videos from Davis and Cousins during the meeting that made it clear how important Holiday was to their future plans.
Davis’ video focused on how much he wanted to finish what they started and how much Holiday meant to him on and off the court.
Cousins’ video, on the other hand, was short and went directly to the point:
“There were a few expletives in there and he basically ended it with a threat,” said one person who attended the meeting. “It was everything you’d expect from DeMarcus. Jrue thought it was hilarious.”
Holiday was moved by the presentation, but he told the team he wanted to sleep on his decision and speak with his family before announcing his intentions.
About six hours later, Holiday informed the team that he intended to stick around. It was an incredible turnaround for him, signing the biggest contract of his career less than one year removed from some of the darkest moments of his life.
The aftermath
Once the details of the deal emerged, there were some experts who said the Pelicans overpaid slightly for Holiday because of his injury history and the way he struggled to adapt after Cousins came around.
His struggles even extended into the beginning of the 2017-18 season, but once he got himself where he needed to be physically and mentally, he hasn’t looked back.
He took his game to another level late in the year after Cousins’ Achilles tear and helped the Pelicans reach the postseason for the first time in three seasons. Holiday put up some historic numbers during that playoff run and went toe-to-toe with elite guards like Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Stephen Curry.
After that run, there weren’t any more questions about Holiday’s fit or if he deserved the amount of money he was given the previous summer. Some members of the Pelicans’ previous regime even admit that Holiday’s $126 million contract was a bit of an overpay, but it’s well worth it when you get to keep a talent like that on the roster.
“We knew it was a slight overpay, but nobody was calling it an overpay when he was first-team All-Defense and we were in the second round of the playoffs,” said one former member of the front office. “Sometimes you have to live with giving up a little more if you believe in the talent.”
Even though they paid a premium, keeping Holiday looked genius compared to some of the other 2017 contracts.
That belief has paid off more than the organization could ever imagine. Holiday’s role keeping the locker room together during tumultuous times the past few years has been invaluable, and he’s developed into one of the best two-way players in the league during his late 20s (he turned 30 in June).
Holiday’s contract turned out to be one of the most important deals in franchise history.
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