Milwaukee Bucks: Grading Jon Horst’s eventful tenure as general manager

Reviewing Jon Horst’s record in free agency in his Milwaukee Bucks tenure

As is the case with most general managers, there are some solid hits for Horst, but there have also been a few misses as general manager of the Bucks.

Let’s start with probably his biggest hit in free agency: Brook Lopez. In 2018, Horst signed Lopez to a one-year, $3.38 million contract. Lopez has since become a core piece of the Bucks’ success both offensively and defensively. He has fit perfectly with Giannis Antetokounmpo and has become one of the league’s best rim protectors.

Beyond Lopez, I think Horst has done well in signing Pat Connaughton; who has become an incredibly valuable reserve in the Horst-and-Mike Budenholzer Era, Bobby Portis; another valuable reserve who is in his prime ages, and even signing veterans like Wesley Matthews and Jason Terry were valuable in their short time.

He has also done relatively well in re-signing players and keeping them with the Bucks, such as Lopez and Portis but also signing Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton to extensions. You can quibble with the value of Middleton’s contract, but they’re better off with him than without him. And getting Antetokounmpo to sign his supermax might be Horst’s biggest win overall.

On the other end, though, there have been some rough moments. In terms of bringing in outside players, the D.J. Augustin signing was probably Horst’s worst thus far. He saved himself by moving on from Augustin without having to give up too much and acquired P.J. Tucker, who was then not re-signed by Horst.

That leads me to Horst’s biggest miss in free agency, and that is the infamous decision to let Malcolm Brogdon walk in a sign-and-trade to the Indiana Pacers. It’s a debate whether it was actually ownership who decided they couldn’t bring Brogdon back (similar to Tucker), but it’s still a move that is on Horst’s record as general manager.