Ramona Shelburne\u2019s latest ESPN report<\/a> included a direct statement from Edens on what comes next.<\/p>\n\u201cGiannis is going into the last year [of his contract]. So one of two things will happen: Either he will be extended, or he\u2019ll be traded,\u201d Edens said.<\/p>\n
The message removes any middle ground, making it clear the Bucks will not allow the situation to drift.<\/p>\n
It also reflects how teams approach elite players nearing contract expiration.<\/p>\n
The Bucks are unwilling to risk Giannis Antetokounmpo leaving for nothing<\/p>\n
Edens expanded on why the organization is taking that approach.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe likelihood you\u2019ll let him just kind of play out the last year, we can\u2019t afford that. It\u2019s not consistent with what\u2019s good for the organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not a Giannis issue. That\u2019s any player that\u2019s in their last year,\u201d Edens stated.<\/p>\n
The emphasis is on protecting the franchise\u2019s long-term position rather than focusing solely on the player.<\/p>\n
It highlights a standard NBA approach, where teams avoid losing star talent without return. For the Bucks, the priority is clear: secure Giannis long-term or make a decisive move before reaching that risk point.<\/p>\n
Read more:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Wes Edens has made the franchise\u2019s stance on Giannis Antetokounmpo clear, with a contract decision…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":669398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3775],"tags":[7,103,123,102,121,3871,6,361,41961],"class_list":["post-669397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-milwaukee-bucks","tag-basketball","tag-bucks","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-milwaukee","tag-milwaukee-bucks","tag-milwaukeebucks","tag-nba","tag-the-bucks","tag-wes-edens"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116263422711279241","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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