Milwaukee Bucks Roundtable: Digging into their busy offseason

The Milwaukee Bucks kicked off their offseason with a bang with the blockbuster acquisition of Jrue Holiday. How significant of an upgrade do you believe Holiday will be for the Bucks, especially as they look to contend for an NBA title next season?

Dalton Sell (@sell_dalton): For the past three seasons, Eric Bledsoe has been the primary scapegoat for the Bucks’ lack of postseason success. It was clear that the Bucks were going to move on from him this offseason, and they could not have found a realistic replacement better than Jrue Holiday.

Without question, Holiday resides in a tier above Bledsoe as he now gives the Bucks a better scorer, floor spacer, playmaker, defender, and overall fit at the guard position. Milwaukee gave up quite the haul to get Holiday, but as one of the best two-way guards in the entire association, it could be worth it as they reshape this roster with a championship in mind ahead of next season. Of course, I wish Bledsoe the best of luck down in New Orleans moving forward, as he desperately needed a fresh start elsewhere.

Jordan Treske (@JordanTreske): There’s a reason why Bucks fans had been dreaming of adding Jrue Holiday over the last few years, should he have become available in a trade. After seeing his playoff failures in each of the last three seasons, Eric Bledsoe’s time in Milwaukee had simply run its course, but all Bucks fans were all aware of the challenge it was to move him for a superior upgrade. In Holiday, the Bucks got that and he will offer the same defensive advantages while being able to score credibly from all levels of the floor.

Even with taking into account the massive haul of picks and pick swaps it took to get the veteran guard, the Bucks were in no position to pull any breaks as Giannis Antetokounmpo’s long-term future has come front and center.

Michael Wood (@wood4_michael): Honestly, this was the point guard not named Chris Paul, who would have not been the right addition in my opinion, that Bucks fans most wanted to acquire this offseason and clearly, the organization obliged.

Holiday was the best point guard available that suits the Bucks’ needs on the offensive and defensive end. As good of a defender Eric Bledsoe is, Holiday is even better. This acquisition softens the blow of losing out on Bogdan Bogdanovic and gets the Bucks closer to their ultimate goal, that being winning an NBA championship.

Bledsoe, who signed his new contract at the peak of his career, just has not been the same player since then. He had moments in games during the 2019-20 season where he would absolutely take over and be the best player on the court. Unfortunately, the 2020 postseason performance was dreadful, and he never regained his confidence on the court. I liked Bledsoe, and he liked Milwaukee, but this trade had to be done, no matter the number of picks given up.

Tyler Schickert (@tschicket13): In my opinion, the difference between Eric Bledsoe and Jrue Holiday on the defensive end is negligible as they each have had two All-Defense selections over their respective careers and bring similar size, length and athleticism to bother opponents.

To me, the biggest difference that makes Holiday a major upgrade is on the offensive end, Holiday is better in just about every offensive category. Holiday is a better ball handler, shooter and passer. Holiday has been good enough to make more than one All-Star appearance in his career, but has been playing in a loaded Western Conference over the last seven seasons. The upgrade from Bledsoe to Holiday will be most noticeable in the playoffs as he’s simply been more productive across all statistical categories at that point in the year.

Ben Rauman (@BenRauman): Eric Bledsoe’s playoff struggles have been well-documented over the past three seasons. The Bucks replacing him with any starting-caliber point guard would have been a vast improvement over what they got out of Bledsoe in the postseason.

However, the addition of Jrue Holiday is far more significant than the “addition by subtraction” of playoff Bledsoe. Holiday is not only an improvement on the offensive end, but he’s also a better and more versatile defender than the Bucks’ former all-defensive guard. Holiday has proven he can perform well and even step up his game in the playoffs next to Anthony Davis in New Orleans, and now he’ll get the opportunity with a more-talented supporting cast in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton.