After taking a leave of absence with the New Orleans Pelicans for several weeks to care for his ailing wife and newborn child, point guard Jrue Holiday plans to return to the team next week, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
The 26-year-old is expected to return to practice by Tuesday and there are tentative plans for him to return to the lineup for his season debut no later than Nov. 18 against the Portland Trail Blazers.
There is a slight chance that Holiday could return Wednesday against the Orlando Magic, according to league sources.
The UCLA standout missed training camp and the start of the regular season and will likely need to kick it into high gear in order to return to game shape.
During his absence, Holiday’s wife, Lauren, gave birth to a baby girl and underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor. Holiday took a leave of absence from the team to care for her and has missed the entire preseason and first nine games of the season thus far.
After a disappointing 0-8 start, New Orleans won its first game on Thursday night against the Milwaukee Bucks, 112-106.
The Pelicans are in dire need of Holiday's contribution, as their offensive system is heavily focused on talisman Anthony Davis and the team could use a second scorer to take on some of the scoring load.
He'll eventually take over Tim Frazier‘s borrowed title of starting point guard, depending on how quickly he can get into shape and produce. Frazier should still see decent minutes as a backup.
Jrue Holiday averaged 16.8 points and six assists for the Pelicans last season. During his seven NBA seasons, including an All-Star appearance, Holiday has career averages of 14.1 points and 6.1 assists.
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