Milwaukee Bucks: Ranking top 5 moves of Jon Horst’s tenure

3. Acquiring Eric Bledsoe from the Phoenix Suns

One tweet changed Eric Bledsoe’s fortunes for the better just a few weeks into the start of the 2017-18 season.

While Bledsoe took his trade demands in a very direct way that was consistent with this social media age, the Bucks found value in acquiring their starting point guard from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Greg Monroe, a protected first rounder and a second rounder, both of which haven’t conveyed at this writing.

Bledsoe certainly embraced his change of scenery immediately as he was thankful to play alongside a promising Bucks core, though the results didn’t pay off in his first season in Milwaukee. But the trade itself has ultimately proved to be a win just as the Bucks have found their way into becoming a title contender over the last two seasons.

That protected first rounder the Bucks dealt to the Suns has since landed with the Boston Celtics as it was included in the Aron Baynes swap the night before the 2019 NBA Draft last offseason. And Monroe bounced all over the NBA following the trade by logging stints with Phoenix, the Boston Celtics (on two occasions), the Toronto Raptors and the Philadelphia 76ers before going overseas this year to play with Bayern Munich of the top division in Germany.

The acquisition of Bledsoe doesn’t stand as Horst’s first major move as GM as that distinction belongs to Tony Snell, whom Horst and the Bucks agreed to a four-year, $46 million deal once the clock struck midnight on July 1, 2017 to open up free agency.

But what it did do was signal the calculated, decisive intent with which Horst has consistently operated throughout his time as Bucks GM in order to bolster the team’s roster.

And considering Bledsoe signed a four-year, $70 million deal with the Bucks midway through the 2018-19 season, any risk that he would make his stint with the Bucks a short one following the trade was minimized with that decision.