This is why the Milwaukee Bucks made the Jrue Holiday trade

It has been over a year since the Milwaukee Bucks made the trade to acquire Jrue Holiday from the New Orleans Pelicans. Quite a bit has happened for both the Bucks and Holiday since that trade — including a championship! — and he has proven his value over and over again.

Many at the time thought the Bucks overpaid for Holiday and some even thought that there wasn’t much of an upgrade between Holiday and former Bucks point guard Eric Bledsoe. As we all found out in the playoffs, even when Holiday struggles offensively, he still provides immense value for whatever team he’s on.

However, even after all of the heroics in the playoffs, we may finally be seeing the full value of bringing in a third star such as Holiday to help keep the team afloat as best they can.

The importance of the Jrue Holiday trade has now been magnified for the Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks are severely shorthanded at the moment, missing as many as six players and four of them being starters from last season. Their upcoming schedule won’t be very forgiving as they will have two sets of back-to-backs in their next four games.

A combination of back-to-backs and a shorthanded roster is a recipe for disaster, but the Bucks have prepared themselves for a scenario where their two best players are out by upgrading their third-best player.

Holiday can morph and fit his game into any context. Typically, he is the third star and fills in the gap offensively by getting to the rim and hitting his signature stepback 3-point jumper. But, as we’ve seen multiple times this year and in the playoffs, Holiday can take on a bigger offensive role when needed.

Although he is only averaging around 16 points per game this season, Holiday has had some bigger scoring outbursts when the team needed him most. The game that sticks out in my mind most is the second night of a back-to-back against the Toronto Raptors.

Antetokounmpo was a late scratch and Middleton didn’t have his shot going in the first half. Although no other Buck scored more than seven points in the first half, they were within eight points at halftime because of Holiday’s 16 points on nearly 85 percent true shooting.

He finished the game with 26 points on 61.3 percent true shooting along with a game-high eight assists and was the primary reason why the Bucks had a chance to tie or win the game late.

Holiday, his teammates, and coaches have routinely said he needs to be more aggressive and assertive in looking for his own shot in the past and that when he is, that is when he is at his best offensively.

Over his last 12 games, we’ve seen Holiday be at his best offensively this season. He is averaging over 18 points per game on 61.5 percent true shooting along with 6.6 assists. The Bucks will need more than 18 points a night in this stretch of games, so the efficiency may dip and so may the assist numbers, but Holiday will be relied on to lead the scoring (along with Grayson Allen, Bobby Portis, and Pat Connaughton).

He may have started the season slowly, but this is the version of Jrue Holiday that the Bucks need over the next few games to help keep them afloat. He won’t be able to cover up all of the holes (interior defense being the primary issue), but this is why the Bucks acquired the third star.

Even after all of the injury woes, this will undoubtedly be the Bucks’ biggest test this season in terms of perseverance.