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Did Jrue Holiday trade lead to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s eventual Bucks departure?
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One could argue that Giannis Antetokounmpo 's final years with the Milwaukee Bucks were never the same after Jrue Holiday 's trade to the Portland Blazers in 2023. The Antetokounmpo era with the Bucks ended on a bittersweet note. Five years removed from leading Milwaukee to a championship, fans haven't seen their team come close to competing for another since.
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The Bucks failed to reach the Eastern Conference Finals since their title run in 2021, which was led by Antetokounmpo and Holiday, a two-way guard who helped seal a 4-2 victory against the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals. Antetokounmpo was never quite the same after losing his All-Star teammate in Holiday, according to a Bucks source, per ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and Jamal Collier.
"Looking back on it, the one thing we did that changed everything was put Jrue in that trade," a Bucks source said. "Jrue was such a leader on and off the floor. He would do things like if Giannis was holding the ball too much, Jrue would just bring it up and play with everybody else without making it a thing. He was a pro at it.
"But Jrue was in the deal [for Lillard ] because we thought we needed offense over defense. But once he was gone, we lost our whole defensive identity. It's not so much that getting Dame was a mistake. He would've been perfect if we still had Jrue."
After Jrue Holiday was re-routed from Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks to the Blazers in exchange for Damian Lillard, Holiday agreed to a sign-and-trade with the Boston Celtics , where Jrue earned his second NBA championship in 2024.
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How the Luka Doncic trade to Lakers impacted Giannis Antetokounmpo
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Watching the Mavericks trade Luka Doncic to the Lakers influenced Giannis Antetokounmpo . The shocking move made Antetokounmpo think he had less control than he expected, ultimately leading him to play his final season with the Bucks.
Antetokounmpo began to think about his own future outside of playing for the Bucks, according to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Jim Owczarski.
"In a way, for Antetokounmpo, pushing ownership to its limits flipped the script, verifying the organization's belief in him . That changed in February 2025 with the surprise trade of Dallas star Luka Doncic to the Lakers, which crystallized in Antetokounmpo's mind how little real control superstars had," Owczarski reported. "So, Antetokounmpo began to separate himself. One step was physical. For years, he haphazardly collected his trophies at his suburban Milwaukee home.
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"But in the 2025 offseason, he packed them up and took them to Greece."
Antetokounmpo will embark on a new era with the Heat in 2026-27.
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