Milwaukee Bucks are Extending G Jrue Holiday on a 4y/$135M Contract

JRUE HOLIDAY IS THE REASON MILWAUKEE IS AS DANGEROUS AS EVER

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When Milwaukee gave up a lofty amount of picks for Jrue Holiday over the offseason, it served multiple purposes. The biggest one was to convince its all-world talent Giannis Antetokounmpo to sign with the Bucks long-term. Giving up Eric Bledsoe, George Hill, and those future assets have already paid off because the Greek Freak signed his max extension and ensured MIL will be contending for years to come as long as he stays healthy. 

The other main purpose of trading for Jrue Holiday was to add a standout two-way player who is the perfect fit to play alongside Giannis and Khris Middleton as an All-NBA caliber defender with an offensive skillset that’s capable of basically anything on a basketball court. His natural fit into Mike Budenholzer’s offense and defense has made him an invaluable contributor and he’s now been rewarded with a 4y/$135M extension. 

What has prevented the Bucks from turning past regular-season No.1 seeds into Eastern Conference championships has been the team’s inability to perform as well in close games during late situations. It almost took an insurmountable 3-0 series lead over Kawhi‘s Raptors in 2019 but failed to hold on to multiple leads in a 2OT classic that swung the entire series. 

Then against Miami in 2020, Game 1 was a one-point game with five minutes left before Jimmy Butler put the team on his back and Giannis couldn’t do the same. Game 2 came down to the wire where Milwaukee came up short again. The Bucks held a one-point lead with 4:20 left in Game 3 before collapsing for the third straight time. 

Milwaukee needs to improve in these critical situations that decide champions and Jrue Holiday proved on Saturday once again, he’s the perfect man for the job as he stepped up without Giannis to lead the Bucks to a close victory despite Khris Middleton starting the game 1-12 FG as Jrue added six points in the final 2:23. Holiday will be huge for the Bucks as he’s not only a proven scorer in crunch time, but he can also prevent the other team’s best playmaker from rising to the occasion themselves.

The reigning 2x MVP will always be the face of the team, the most productive player throughout the game, and receive the majority of the credit/blame. However, with Jrue Holiday now locked up in Wisconsin, he can make all the difference in those season-changing moments that have decided the Bucks’ fortune in recent years and showed he can be relied upon to get the job done when it matters most.