Holiday-Noel trade becomes official

ORLANDO -- The Jrue Holiday-for-Nerlens Noel trade is finally official.

The New Orleans Pelicans introduced Holiday as their new point guard in a press conference Friday night

Wednesday was the first day that NBA deals and free-agent signings could be completed. The recently married Holiday was on his honeymoon, which led to the trade being delayed until Friday.

The 76ers traded Holiday, an all-star point guard, and acquired the rights to center Noel, the sixth overall pick, in a deal with the New Orleans Pelicans during the NBA draft on June 27.

"The draft is an important pipeline of talent for our team and our intention was to add players who could position us well for the future, while also allowing us to capitalize on attractive opportunities to acquire top-flight talent or additional future draft choices," said Sixers President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Sam Hinkie. said in a press release."Nerlens Noel and an additional 2014 first round draft choice give us two new opportunities to add talent to our team."

The Sixers also received the Pelicans' 2014 first-round pick, which is protected from picks one through five, for Holiday and a second-round pick (42d overall) in this year's draft.

The team also acquired Royce White and the rights to Turkish star Furkan Aldemir in a trade with the Houston Rockets.