Jimmy Haslam didn’t have to be in an NBA setting to keep answering for one of the biggest moves the Bucks have made in years. Even at Cleveland Browns training camp on Friday, the Bucks co-owner was pressed about the decision to send Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami, and he made clear the move was about reshaping the roster for what comes next.
Haslam, whose Haslam Sports Group has owned the Browns since 2012 and bought a 25% stake in the Bucks three years ago, has been tied to two major summer trades. The first came on June 1, when Myles Garrett was sent to the Rams. Three weeks later, Antetokounmpo was dealt to the Heat.
“So, my dad (Jim) is 95 ½, but he still follows every sports move we make, and he called me up after we traded Giannis,” Haslam told reporters. “He goes, ‘do you know that in the last month you’ve traded Myles Garrett and Giannis?’ And I said yes, sir, I know that.”
The Bucks’ return from Miami was heavy on young talent and future draft assets: Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, 2026 first-round pick Nate Ament, unprotected first-round selections in 2031 and 2033, a first-round pick swap in 2030 and a second-round choice in 2033.
For Haslam, the logic was straightforward. Milwaukee had already pushed chips into the middle with past moves for Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard, and the bill for those decisions had started to come due. Antetokounmpo, he said, was the best asset the team had, but the franchise needed a younger core and a different direction.
“Listen, it’s all about what you get, OK?” Haslam said.
“And Giannis is a generational player, won a championship, but we felt the need to get younger. He was the best asset we had.
We had mortgaged our future going forward (with trades for Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard) and I think we got four really good players and we got two draft picks; No. 1 draft picks, a couple swaps and a second. Time will tell.
We’ve got to use those picks wisely, just like we have to do with the Myles (Garrett) trade. But, cautious optimism.”
The move marks a clear shift for a Bucks team that spent the years after its 2021 title trying to stay in the hunt and keep Antetokounmpo in place. That approach eventually ran out of runway last season, when Milwaukee finished 32-50, missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and entered the summer with limited draft capital and few easy paths back.
Haslam said the idea of rebuilding is unsettling, especially for an organization that spent much of the last decade near the top of the league with Antetokounmpo as the centerpiece.
“Although, you gotta be realistic, rebuilding is no fun,” he said. “I think it’s actually harder to rebuild in the NBA than I do the NFL, but we’ll see. The Bucks are an organization which has experienced how difficult rebuilding is.”
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