The Milwaukee Bucks reached a four-year, $135-million contract extension with Jrue Holiday, according to ESPN which learnt the news from Holiday's agent Jason Glushon. The total number can rise to $160 million if all bonus clauses are triggered.

Holiday is in the fourth year of the five-year, $125-million contract he signed with the New Orleans Pelicans in 2017 and he can choose to opt out of it after the 2020-21 season. The new deal will enable the Bucks to keep him until at least 2024 and it contains a player option for the 2024-25 season.

"I'm a Buck for life. Just know that I'm glad to be a part of Bucks Nation. Let's do some big things, man. I'm really excited," said the 30-year-old in a video posted on Twitter.

"Jrue is one of the top guards in the NBA and we are thrilled to sign him to this extension. Adding him to our team has made us better on both ends of the floor. He's an elite defender and an impactful offensive player with the ability to score, shoot and facilitate," said the Bucks' general manager Jon Horst.

From next season, the five-year, $228-million deal of Giannis Antetokounmpo will begin to take effect. Meanwhile, Khris Middleton still has three years left (player option for 2023-24 season) of his current contract, worth about $107 million. That means the team will keep their core of "Big 3" for at least another two seasons after this one.

Is this a good deal?

Holiday has played 38 of the 49 games of the Bucks so far this season, averaging 17 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.8 steals (career high) and 1.9 triples at 39-percent 3-point rate. The other three who drop at least 16 points, four rebounds, five assists and 1.5 steals are Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat, Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets and Fred VanVleet of the Toronto Raptors.

Unlike them, Holiday does not have to lead his team – Butler and Jokic do – or carry the biggest perimeter offensive duty – VanVleet's job in Toronto. Holiday is so far the third man in command in the Bucks after Antetokounmpo and Middleton.

It does not seem economically wise to give a max deal to a player like this. The total salaries of his, Antetokounmpo's and Middleton's in the 2021-22 season will be $105 million and $113 million in the 2022-23 season. If Middleton decides to exercise his player option, the number will leap to $120 million for the 2023-24 season.

That's the most expensive "Big 3" the NBA has ever seen.

It should be all worth it if the Bucks can win the NBA Championship(s), but the question is, can they win it?

So far, the chances are not looking good. Holiday's arrival has not brought the Bucks what they wanted the most: spacing, orchestrating or screen play off the dribble during half-court offense. His 3-point shooting is not bad in rate, but not good enough in production. Holiday can both charge the rim and create opportunities for others, but he is not top in either.

Moreover, the competitions for the throne only grew more intense this season. The rise of Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers already posed a severe challenge to the Bucks. The Brooklyn Nets are already seen as the most hopeful champion candidates after adding James Harden, Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge to their lineup.

Even if the Bucks make the Finals, their defensive concept of focusing on rim protection first seems so vulnerable in front of the Utah Jazz who kept putting up epic 3-point shooting performances this season.

But the Bucks have to do it

First, Holiday may not be a leader, but there will always be teams willing to pay more than he's worth to land him from the free agency market. The Jazz gave Rudy Gobert that ridiculous five-year, $205-million contract extension last December for the same reason.

Second, when the Bucks landed Holiday from the Pelicans via trade, they gave up three future first-round Draft picks and two swaps. Those investments will be all for nothing if Holiday opts out his contract and leaves after this season. Meanwhile, it won't be easy for the team to find a qualified replacement for Holiday on the free agency market when Antetokounmpo and Middleton get paid $74 million and $80 million in the following two seasons – if any free agent star will choose Milwaukee in the first place.

Furthermore, the Bucks need to write Holiday a big cheque in order to be able to spend big in the future if there is a chance to replace him (or Middleton) with someone better. When you have one max and one supermax deal on your payroll, your hands are tied by the salary cap, packing role players and other assets to trade for a star may be an option, but the Bucks do not have many assets left after the Holiday trade. Neither will they want to further cut their mediocre depth. Sure, there is way of convincing another star to accept pay cut, yet, like we said, neither Milwaukee, nor Antetokounmpo and Middleton are attractive.

The Bucks already betted everything on the table when they introduced Holiday and gave Antetokounmpo the supermax deal. They can't afford to quit now.