Jon Horst has done a lot of good as general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks. Horst has assembled championship-caliber rosters, including one that did get it done and won it all in 2021.
Horst has been known to pull the trigger on trades when he feels it can help the team. Unfortunately, for all of the good things Horst has done throughout his tenure as general manager, some trades did not work out for the Bucks. Here are the four biggest trade mistakes of the Jon Horst era, ranked from less of a mistake to the biggest mistake.
No. 4 – The Eric Bledsoe trade was a mistake by Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst
Jon Horst was named general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks in 2017. He instantly made a splash by acquiring a disgruntled Eric Bledsoe from the Phoenix Suns. At the time, it was an excellent move for the Bucks. They were receiving a quality point guard in his prime to play alongside blossoming stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton.
It was unknown then that Bledsoe would hold them back a little further down the road. Bledsoe was never a good shooter in the regular season at any point in his career, but he wasn’t terrible. However, he was awful from the perimeter during back-to-back playoff runs in 2019 and 2020.
Bledsoe seemingly singlehandedly cost the team opportunities at championships with his atrocious shooting in both runs. Considering the high volume of 72 attempts in 15 games in 2019 and 32 in nine games in 2020, it’s easy to see how his shooting was detrimental to the team. Bledsoe shot 23.6 percent from three during the 2019 postseason and 25 percent in 2020.
The Bledsoe trade is not higher on the list because Bledsoe was a part of another trade package later that landed the team Jrue Holiday. Upgrading from Bledsoe to Holiday was one of the critical components in Milwaukee’s 2021 championship run.