Jrue Holiday was supposed to have a minutes limit last year

Anyone maintaining skepticism about the planned 15-minute restriction on Jrue Holiday's playing time has renewed reason to do so.

The New Orleans Pelicans point guard is expected to have his minutes monitored closely after missing 90 games across two seasons with the team due to a recurring stress reaction in his right leg. He underwent surgery in May to remove a screw from the leg and is expected to be ready for the start of the season, but with the caveat that the team will practice caution with his health.

Despite Holiday's admission that he'll start out in the 10-to-15-minute range, he recently revealed to Sports Illustrated that there was a similar minutes plan in place last year. It just didn't get followed.

Here's Holiday in the SI interview:

I think it'll be 10-15 minutes just so we don't have the same thing that happened last year where I started off playing 35 minutes and something else happened to my leg and don't know why. So I think we're just going to take it slow and through every game, after every game, during every practice, see how it's feeling and we'll just go from there.
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It was the plan last year and it just never happened.
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Last year we planned on having a minute restriction but as a competitor and at the time, when he would ask me, 'Are you good to go?' I'd say, 'Yeah.' My leg felt good and I told him it felt good.

Holiday averaged 32.6 minutes in the 40 games he appeared in last season - a far cry from the minutes he'll be playing to start this year, if the organization sticks to their plan. It sounds as though Holiday has learned from his experience last year, and the Pelicans are confident in Tyreke Evans' ability to man the point in support of Holiday and backup Norris Cole.

In the games Holiday's managed to play as a Pelican, he's averaged 14.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 1.6 steals while shooting 38.3 percent from outside, continuing to display the potential that made him an All-Star in 2013 and an attractive trade target.

The 25-year-old has two years and $21.9 million remaining on his contract. He figures to be a key piece of the Pelicans' core alongside Anthony Davis, with whom he developed great two-way chemistry last season. Lineups with those two on the floor together outscored opponents by 6.2 points per 100 possessions.