NBA Rumors: Jrue Holiday Contract Talks Will 'Greatly' Affect Giannis' Bucks Future

Milwaukee Bucks star Jrue Holiday is eligible for an extension later this year, and his next potential deal with the franchise—or lack thereof—could impact Giannis Antetokounmpo's future in Wisconsin.

"What happens with Jrue Holiday's extension greatly affects what happens with Giannis Antetokounmpo's decision about whether he stays in Milwaukee and whether he wants to do that this summer," ESPN's Ramona Shelburne said Wednesday on NBA Today. "So, Jrue Holiday is the bellwether. ... What happens with the Jrue Holiday situation this spring and this summer is a bellwether for what happens for Giannis."

Holiday has played a crucial role for the Bucks since teaming up with Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee ahead of the 2020-21 campaign, and the veteran point guard is coming off the best season of his career with the franchise.

Holiday, who helped the Bucks to a 2021 NBA title, averaged 19.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 7.4 assists in 67 games during the 2022-23 season while shooting 47.9 percent from the floor and 38.4 percent from deep.

The 33-year-old is entering the final year of his contract, though he holds a $37.3 million player option for 2024-25, which he could decline in search of a more lucrative long-term deal.

If the Bucks were to part ways with Holiday after the 2023-24 season, that would not signal to Antetokounmpo that Milwaukee is ready to contend for another NBA championship unless it was to replace him with an equal or better talent.

Antetokounmpo has reiterated on multiple occasions that he just wants to win, but he cast doubt on his future in Milwaukee while speaking on the 48 Minutes podcast, saying that if there's "a better situation for me to win the Larry O'Brien, I have to take that better situation."

The two-time MVP also said in an interview with Tania Ganguli of the New York Times last month that he wanted to see how the team played under new head coach Adrian Griffin before making any decisions about his future with the Bucks.

"You've got to see the dynamics," Antetokounmpo said. "How the coach is going to be, how we're going to be together. At the end of the day, I feel like all my teammates know and the organization knows that I want to win a championship. As long as we're on the same page with that and you show me and we go together to win a championship, I'm all for it."

Mike Budenholzer was fired after the Bucks were eliminated from the 2023 playoffs with a first-round loss to the Miami Heat. They replaced him with Griffin, who has served as an assistant for the Toronto Raptors from 2018 to '23.

Antetokounmpo's contract runs through 2024-25 and he has a player option worth nearly $52 million for the 2025-26 campaign. If the Bucks can't show they are true title contenders over the next two seasons, the veteran could find himself as the leader of a different franchise in the near future.