Jrue Holiday Reportedly Will Return from Caring for Wife After Brain Tumor

After missing the first nine games of the season to care for his wife, New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday will reportedly return to the court imminently. 

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, Holiday is expected to make his season debut next week. ESPN.com's Justin Verrier later confirmed the news Friday.

Holiday has been with his wife—former United States women's national team soccer player Lauren Holiday—while she recovers from successful surgery to remove a benign tumor from her brain, which she underwent in October, per John Reid of the Times-Picayune.

The 26-year-old Holiday is coming off a strong 2015-16 campaign in which he averaged 16.8 points, 6.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game.

He is the team's No. 2 returning scorer behind Anthony Davis and its top returning assist man among players who appeared in more than 25 games.

The former Philadelphia 76ers first-round pick figures to make an instant impact for a team that has limped to a 1-8 start.

Matt Moore of CBSSports.com believes the Pelicans are bound to improve when Holiday makes his highly anticipated return:

"

Jrue Holiday won’t make this a good team, but he will make them a “not the absolute worst” team.

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) November 11, 2016"

Davis is putting up MVP-caliber numbers, but he has had little support from his teammates. The Pelicans lost Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon during the offseason, and Tyreke Evans has missed every game with a knee injury. 

New Orleans desperately needs a No. 2 scoring option to right the ship, and while Holiday may not get the team back in contention on his own, the Pelicans figure to be far more competitive with him back in the fold.

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