Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Wes Edens kicked off the team’s media day earlier this week saying he’s the “most excited” he’s ever been going into an NBA season.
Much of that excitement stems from several major, albeit difficult, decisions Bucks’ ownership made during the off season that Edens says puts the team in the best possible position to bring home another championship. Most notable among those decisions were replacing Mike Budenholzer with Adrian Griffin as head coach and trading guards Jrue Holiday and Grayson Allen for seven-time all-star guard Damian Lillard last week in a three-team blockbuster deal.
“People tend to underestimate the risk of doing nothing versus the risk of doing something,” said Edens of those changes. “I feel like we’re in the best position we’ve ever been at this point in the season.”
As the team’s presiding governor, Edens addressed the media on behalf of fellow majority owners Jamie Dinan and Mike Fascitelli, who were both in attendance, as well as Jimmy and Dee Haslam, who joined the franchise’s ownership group in April after purchasing Marc Lasry’s share for $800 million at a $3.2 billion valuation, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The couple owns the Cleveland Browns as part of their Berea, Ohio-based holding company Haslam Sports Group.
With an $8.7 billion net worth (as of Oct. 4 according to Forbes), it’s safe to assume Haslam’s buy-in likely affords the Bucks some additional purchasing power to make championship-driven deals, such as the Lillard trade, and to keep superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo here, and happy, in Milwaukee.
Antetokounmpo contract developments
During the off season, Antetokounmpo made comments about his drive to win another championship and his desire to see the same level of commitment from Bucks’ ownership before signing a contract extension. Asked to comment on where things stand now between Antetokounmpo and the ownership, Edens said:
“I think that Giannis and ownership are in exactly the same position, that we’re all very focused on winning. His comments, which I think in the context in which they were offered, had everything to do with being in the best position to compete for championships while he’s an active player at the peak of his skills and, of course, we couldn’t be more supportive of that. I think we’re 100% aligned about this and we’ve done everything we can to make the team have the best chance to compete and win.
“The coaching change was made because we thought it would be best for the organization, the chance to trade two very good basketball players for Damian Lillard, that’s a big decision. We’re just trying to do what we think we can to give ourselves the best chance we can to win championships and I feel really good about that.”
Antetokounmpo, who in late 2020 signed a five-year, $228.2 million supermax contract extension with the Bucks, is now eligible for a three-year, $186.6 million extension before the start of the regular season or a commitment for up to four years and $260 million next offseason, according to The Athletic. Edens declined to comment specifically on how contract negotiations are playing out but expressed optimism based on how past negotiations have materialized.
“I feel like at the end of the day he’s committed to being here and committed to being part of the winning team, and we’re committed to Giannis so we’ll see how it all plays out.”
All-Star game in Milwaukee?
Another topic Edens addressed was the Bucks’ bid for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game and why Milwaukee is primed to play host:
“The city of Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin deserve an All-Star game. We built this incredible arena — Mike Fascitelli along with Peter Feigin and others did an amazing job building this arena — we’ve added hospitality across the street. We feel like we are absolutely well-positioned to get a game, and no assurances it’ll happen or exactly when it’ll happen, but I think it’ll be a great chance to showcase this great city and the people here in Wisconsin, so we’re obviously a big fan of that.”
According to The Athletic, the NBA is planning to award the 2025 All-Star Game to San Francisco. The 2024 NBA All-Star Game will be played in Indianapolis.
Shifts in sports broadcasting
When the 2023-24 season tips off on Oct. 26 — with preseason getting underway Oct. 8 — Bucks fans tuning in at home should not be concerned about catching all the action, Edens reassured in response to a question on Diamond Sports Group’s ongoing bankruptcy and restructuring. The parent company of Bally Sports Wisconsin, the official broadcast network of the Bucks and Brewers, announced in March that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Edens took the opportunity to weigh in more generally on the evolution of sports broadcasting and the rise of streaming services.
“In sports, if your first 10 questions aren’t about media then you probably don’t really understand the financials of sports. The media plays a huge role in it. We’re in this very interesting inflection point between linear programming and streaming. There still are a lot of unanswered questions about the economics of the over the air verses the streaming, but you get to run your own broadcast if you choose to do it that way, you get to connect more directly to consumers, so that’s something we’re deeply interested in.
“And then, of course, independent of that, the whole Diamond situation. There‘s a lot of uncertainty about how that’s going to turn out, but I think sooner rather than later streaming will play a bigger and bigger role in sports media and we’re now trying to all figure out how to marry up the linear program — (which is) the backbone of the economy frankly of our league and others — with getting access to consumers. It’s a pretty fluid situation and one we’re paying a lot of attention to, and I think there will be a lot more information about that in the coming months and years.”
