ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne Breaks Down the Giannis Antetokounmpo Trade Market

Milwaukee finally has organizational clarity on Giannis Antetokounmpo. The trade market is, by ESPN's Ramona Shelburne's read, getting ready to move.

Shelburne came on the show with the latest from her reporting on the Bucks' ownership group.

She started with what she heard months ago, in a story she wrote in March.

"I talked to the owners, Wes Edens and Jimmy Haslam, and they said, for us it's pretty simple. He's either going to sign that extension or he's going to be traded, cuz we can't afford to lose him for nothing," Shelburne said.

The technical wrinkle is the extension cannot be signed until October. The fresh news, in Shelburne's reporting, is Jimmy Haslam came out and said the Bucks want this resolved before the draft.

"He's either got to signal to us that he'll sign that extension, or we're going to trade him," Shelburne said. "And I don't think you're actually allowed to do that. I don't think you can say I'm going to sign it until it's offered."

The bigger point, in her framing, is the organization being on the same page. That was missing at the trade deadline.

"When you went through all this stuff back at the trade deadline, I got to the point where I was like, oh, they're not ready to trade him," Shelburne said. "That's what most of the teams who were engaging with them felt. When you're going to trade your franchise player, when you're going to trade the guy who brought you a championship, the most important player in franchise history, you can argue it might have been Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but probably Giannis now at this point, everyone has to be on the same page."

The comp she reached for was Memphis trading Jaren Jackson Jr. to Utah.

"Everyone knew if Memphis got a couple first-round picks, Memphis had a red line," Shelburne said. "They had all gotten on the same page to say, we're ready to do this. Here's what we, here's our asking price. Everybody who called and offered one pick, no. If you offered two picks and this, they were going to do it. That's how you trade a guy like Giannis."

The Bucks, in Shelburne's reporting, are finally there.

"They got a coach. They have a general manager in there. They have clarity, at least from the ownership level," Shelburne said.

Haslam's voice in this moment is meaningful to Shelburne for a specific reason.

"Jimmy Haslam coming out and saying that, I thought was interesting, cuz he's not actually the controlling owner," Shelburne said. "He's the minority owner there, but he and Wes Edens are partners in this, and I thought it was interesting he stepped in to give his voice there."

The Browns Haslam playbook is the second comp.

"Look at what he's done as owner of the Cleveland Browns," Shelburne said. "Baker Mayfield didn't want to be there, traded him. Myles Garrett, gave him the largest contract in history. So you either sign it, or they trade you."

She allowed for the counter-narrative.

"Browns fans would say they should have kept Baker and they should trade Myles Garrett to get the draft choices, and never have signed Deshaun Watson," Shelburne said.

The next few weeks, she said, will tell.