Milwaukee Bucks officially name Jon Horst as new GM

After a long and extensive search, the Milwaukee Bucks have finally settled on a new general manager by appointing Jon Horst to act in the position.

After almost a month of speculation, a number of interviews and plenty more mixed between, the Milwaukee Bucks finally have their new general manager.

The latest twist in the saga to secure a new general manager wound up being the last as former director of basketball of operations Jon Horst has been officially promoted to act as the team’s new general manager.

Of course, ESPN’s Marc Stein was the first to report that Horst had emerged as a strong contender to take on the position, along with interim GM Justin Zanik, who the Bucks brought in last summer from the Utah Jazz.

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In addition to Stein’s reporting, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reported earlier today that the team was closing in on hiring Horst at the position after a “contentious ownership disagreement.”

With the news now made official by the team itself, Horst is set to become the 11th general manager in the team’s history.

For as involved as they were throughout the process, Marc Lasry, Wes Edens and Jamie Dinan all had this to say about naming Horst the team’s new GM:

"“Our No. 1 priority is building a championship-caliber organization and we believe Jon is the right person to be our General Manager,” said Bucks owners Wes Edens, Marc Lasry and Jamie Dinan. “He has been an integral part of basketball operations for the last nine years, and has helped advise us on every major basketball decision since we purchased the team. Jon is very talented, capable, organized and someone we have leaned on for his strategic thinking and ability to execute our vision.“There is a tremendous level of enthusiasm surrounding our new state-of-the-art arena, the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Sports Science Center and transformational development of downtown Milwaukee. We’re excited about the future of our organization and are confident that Jon will lead our team to the highest level.”"

Along with the ownership, Horst himself released a statement in regards to taking on his new position:

"“I’m extremely grateful to our ownership group for their faith and trust in me,” Horst said. “Wes, Marc and Jamie have demonstrated a commitment to building a championship-caliber team, providing the necessary tools and resources, and I’m excited to execute their vision. In my new capacity, I’m looking forward to working with Jason Kidd and the coaching staff, along with our world-class performance team, to give our talented players the support they need to bring a championship to Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin.”"

As Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes, the Bucks will officially introduce Horst during a press conference on Monday morning next week.

Obviously it will be the start of a busy week for Horst as well as the organization itself with this year’s draft being held on Thursday night and the introductions of new players that will surely follow in the ensuing days.

With free agency right around the corner as well, a lot will be placed on Horst’s plate in his first few weeks as the team’s general manager, considering the number of decisions that will impact their future to varying degrees.

But for now, the Horst era officially begins and with it, this search finally comes to a close after many twists and turns, some of which were on the team’s own doing.

Next: NBA Draft 2017 Big Board 2.0: An updated top 75 prospects

What a long, strange trip this all has been.

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