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

4. Nikola Mirotic trade

Horst does not prioritize the draft. He is willing to trade picks for talent to help them win right now. Some of that may be pressure placed on the organization by their superstar, but the general manager dealing a bunch of second-rounders for a forward has not worked out.

In Feb. 2019, the Bucks acquired Mirotic in a three-team trade for Thon Maker, Jason Smith, and four second-round draft picks. There was plenty of buzz when the trade was made. Mirotic averaged 16.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game for the Pelicans. He was a proven floor spacer and rebounder capable of netting 15 every night.

Mirotic saw his playing time decrease in Cream City. A thumb injury forced him to miss 11 games, but he returned for the playoffs. Still, the 6’10 forward averaged just 9.5 points and 4.3 rebounds in 21.3 minutes per game during the postseason. Mirtoic never found a massive role and returned to Europe after the season.

The Milwaukee Bucks gave up four second-rounders for 28 games of Nikola Mirotic. They were bounced in the conference finals with the 6’10 forward playing just nine total minutes over the final two games. Getting a little more for their midseason acquisition may have pushed Milwaukee over the eventual champion Raptors, but it did not happen.