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

3. Signing Tony Snell

In Horst’s first offseason as general manager, he signed Snell to a four-year $44 million contract. Milwaukee traded Michael Carter-Williams to get the 6’6 wing in 2016. He was a starter, who averaged 8.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 29.2 minutes per game. The Bucks were eager to keep him, but things did not work out.

Those were his career highs in minutes, points, and rebounds each night. Snell continued to shoot around 40 percent from 3-point range but offered little else. His minutes declined under new head coach Mike Budenholzer, and Snell fell out of the rotation entirely in the 2019 playoffs. It was clearly time to move on.

The Bucks gave up the 30th overall pick in the 2019 draft to dump Snell’s contract. Jon Leuer was the only piece they received, but he was waived just a few weeks later and never played in the NBA again. Milwaukee had to stretch his contract over three seasons, but it was their only shot to get Snell off their books.

The Bucks reached the conference finals in year one under coach Bud. They became serious contenders and had to improve their roster. It meant dumping Snell’s contract and others who no longer fit their vision.