NBA Rumors: 'People Close' to Giannis Say Jrue Holiday a 'Good Signal' for Bucks

As the Milwaukee Bucks continue to try to convince Giannis Antetokounmpo to re-sign, their addition of Jrue Holiday may have been a good way to entice the reigning two-time NBA MVP. 

On the most recent episode of the Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective podcast (h/t HoopsHype.com), ESPN's Malika Andrews reported "people close to Giannis (said) that that was a good signal that they were able to get a guy like that who is a little bit better shooter than Eric Bledsoe."

Antetokounmpo is eligible to sign a supermax contract with the Bucks until Dec. 21. An extension would be worth $228 million over five years. 

Windhorst reported Monday that the feeling from the Bucks front office is they have "gone from cautiously optimistic to cautiously confident in recent weeks" that they will be able to keep their franchise player. 

Milwaukee officially acquired Holiday from the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday as part of a four-team deal that included the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder. The Bucks sent Bledsoe, two first-round draft picks and the rights for two pick swaps to New Orleans. 

Milwaukee dealt George Hill to the Thunder, while the Bucks' draft rights to R.J. Hampton went to the Nuggets. 

Holiday is regarded as one of the NBA's best two-way guards. The 30-year-old has averaged at least 19 points and six assists per game in each of the past three seasons. 

Antetokounmpo is entering the final year of his contract with Milwaukee. The Greek Freak has led the franchise to the NBA's best regular-season record in each of the past two seasons, but it has been eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals and Semifinals, respectively.