Eric Bledsoe trade and 7 other regrettable Bucks moves Jon Horst botched

5. Jae Crowder trade

Crowder demanded a trade and refused to play for the Suns to start the 2022-23 season. The 6’6 forward was a starter for two years in Phoenix. He helped them reach the NBA Finals in 2021 but was told he would be coming off the bench moving forward. Crowder did not play until February when the Bucks swooped in to acquire him.

This quickly turned into one of Horst’s worst trades. Milwaukee gave up George Hill, Serge Ibaka, Jordan Nwora, and five second-round draft picks to get Crowder. Three reserves and nearly every second-rounder the Bucks could offer seemed worth it for a versatile veteran forward who played a key role in his team reaching the NBA Finals twice in three years, but he was no longer that player.

Crowder played under 19 minutes per game and fell out of the rotation entirely as the top-seeded Bucks were upset by the Heat in the opening round of the playoffs. The lengthy layoff did not help, but the story stayed the same for the 33-year-old in the 2023-24 season after he re-signed on a minimum contract. He did average 23 minutes during the regular season but slipped out of the postseason mix as the Bucks were upset in the first round for the second straight year.

Jon Horst and the Milwaukee Bucks swung and missed on Jae Crowder, but it was not his worst trade.