The dust is still settling on the Cleveland Browns’ trade with the Los Angeles Rams that sent Myles Garrett to the Rams in exchange for Jared Verse and three draft picks.
It’s rare to orchestrate a trade for one Hall of Fame player over the course of an entire ownership tenure; it’s even more rare to be involved in two. The odds of those two trades happening in the same calendar month are microscopic.
Haslam just accomplished that feat.
Three weeks after the Garrett trade, Haslam, who is co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, led a trade that sent future NBA Hall-of-Fame Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat. It is a trade that could have sent shockwaves through the NBA if he went to the Boston Celtics, but it actually feels like a very neutral one that hardly moves the needle in either direction.
Regardless, it is rare that an owner okays one of those types of trades, let alone two of them. Whether the guy is liked or not doesn’t change the fact that he is always on the lookout for a better way to do something. He pours his very own money into making his teams better, and he is not afraid to take a risk.
Now, this is not to be confused with taking the “right” risk. Browns fans know that he misses more than he hits, but he is always trying.
Just as he was set to turn the Browns from a three or five-game winner to a 10 or 11-win playoff team, he is set to turn the Bucks back around. He is going to try to do it the hard way, building it through youth.
If that sounds familiar, it is because it is exactly the move he is making in Cleveland with his Browns. Just as the Bucks received several draft picks, so did the Browns with the Garrett trade. Growing the foundation of a team through youth is the best, long-term solution for any team.
Team success is rarely bought; it’s almost always built.
Try as he might, the truth is that in football, your roster doesn’t mean anything unless the quarterback improves. For Milwaukee, they got rid of most of their problems and can begin working on their future immediately.
It’s the same blueprint that the Browns are following. Either way, Haslam is taking a big swing, and both fan bases in Cleveland and Milwaukee are praying he hits.
This article originally appeared on Browns Wire: Browns’ Jimmy Haslam strikes another shocking trade with a HOF player
Reporting by Anthony Moeglin, Browns Wire / Browns Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Anthony Moeglin, Browns Wire | USA TODAY Network
