Bucks GM Horst focused on building a team that will have sustained success
Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst met with the media for the first time after an eventful, albeit brief, offseason that saw him remake the roster and Giannis Antetokounmpo agree to a supermax extension. Here are some highlights from Horst's news conference, which lasted about 22 minutes.
On his goals for remaking the roster, and if he accomplished it.
“The big goal was obviously to improve and to get better. We've had two really good regular seasons. We've had some successes in the playoffs obviously, but we haven't accomplished the ultimate goal. The idea was to figure out how do we get better, to push the envelope and not just rest on the fact that we had a bubble performance that was subpar. Not making excuses for that but really figuring out how we could improve.
"For us analytically, from a coaching perspective and from a scouting perspective, we really boiled it down to shot making, shot creation and really trying to do that while we maintain our integrity, our IQ and our impact defensively. That's a hard thing to do, but that led us to the transactions and the acquisitions we had in the offseason and I'm happy with what we've done.”
On if he was ready to part with significant future draft capital for any allstar caliber player this offseason, or if Jrue Holiday was the top target.
“I think a little bit of both. You go into the offseason, and obviously it was a condensed, kind of shortened offseason, but for us, our work in the front office is continual. It's not something that just kind of starts at the end of the season and finishes at the start the season. It's year-round. It's day-to-day. It's scouting, it's analysis, it's discussions with your coaching staff. And Jrue Holiday is a player that we've had our eye on for a long time.
"There's other players. He's not the only player in the league that we thought could help us take another step, but he's definitely in the short list of guys who we thought could. Then you really work and see if there's an opportunity for those players to be traded. You talk to teams, you really talk internally and you really try to figure out if a guy is going to become available, or you know that they're available, what's the path to acquiring them? You figure out what you have.
"For us, to be able to acquire I think one of the best two-way guards in the league without trading Brook (Lopez) or Giannis or Khris (Middleton) or Donte (DiVicenzo) was really a coup for us. To be able to add someone of his talent that we think takes us to the next level, without taking away from our top core group of guys was really an opportunity that we couldn't say no to.”
On the balance of trying to improve the team but also knowing such moves may have been factored into Giannis Antetokounmpo’s feelings about staying long-term.
“Where I talked about some of those guys as being bets on, whether or not they're going to fit on offense and defense, the idea of pushing the envelope, making the team better, getting better every day, taking another step, not resting on the fact that we've been the best team in the regular season the last two years, historically great defensively, top-five, top-seven great offensively ... getting better's not a bet. That's our job. And I think that it mattered to Giannis and I think it will always matter to Giannis. But it matters to me. And it matters to Marc Lasry and Wes Edens and Peter Feigin and coach (Mike) Bud(enholzer) and Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez and keep going on down.
"We're an organization full of people who want to get better every single day, not because it makes a transaction easier or makes an extension easier, but because it's the thing you're supposed to do in this business when you have the best player in the world and the core that we have. Our goal is to try to sustain winning over a long period time, compete for championships for a lot of years to go forward and we're in a position to do that right now. So those transactions, to me, are not bets; they're necessities to having success in this business and that's the position we're in today.”
On the NBA stripping the team of its second-round pick in 2022 due to “gun jumping” in the free agency period.
“I just would say that we were intentional and fully compliant and cooperative with the NBA from the get-go. This decision's been made, and we've moving on. We're really excited about the season starting (Wednesday) and kind of take it from there.”
On having any flexibility to make a trade deadline move with so much future draft capital being moved.
“It's something we have to consider and factor in when you make these decisions, but I'll go back to the goal of making this team, which was already really, really good, better. And I would just say I would rather have players and try to figure out how to use draft capital than have a lot of draft capital and try to figure out how to get players.
"Right now, I think we have a lot of really good players and we're a really good team. We got the best player in the NBA. We got a two-time all-star in Khris Middleton. I think one of the best twoway guards in Jrue Holiday and one of the best defensive centers in Brook Lopez surrounded by a core that can shoot and compete and defend and has an IQ and I think we have a real chance. And that's the goal.
“The goal isn't to make as many great late draft picks as we can over the next couple of years; the goal is to try to win championships and to be in a position to compete every year.
"And we might have to get better. This team might not be good enough. We might have to pivot and adjust again. But again, I think we have players that have value that are valued by our organization, that fit, and are going to have a chance to compete with us every single day and if we need to adjust, we'll be creative and be strategic and we'll figure out how to adjust again.”
On if the team is set with 14 players on the roster (along with its two, two-way players) for the time being, and if that open roster spot allows for an addition down the line.
“I think both. I think kind of where we're at for a while but because we have an open roster spot, there's not a guaranteed contract in there, there is some opportunity. There's opportunity through exploring trades. There's some opportunity through exploring freeagent signings. There are some opportunities that we can explore as we go, but with our hard cap situation and our financial position we're in right now it's pretty tight. But it is advantageous for us, both necessary based on our hard cap but also advantageous for us going forward to have a little bit of flexibility and have a little more options as we go forward.”
On the Wisconsin Herd being part of the G-League “bubble" and whether it may better serve two-way players Jaylen Adams and Mamadi Diatke and the Bucks to have them remain with the club.
“I think both, also, on that one. There is definitely an opportunity, I think, for Jaylen and Mamadi to have a role, not only potentially in games but really in practice settings and just getting them reps and getting an opportunity to grow with us and be around our strength and conditioning every single day.
"The Herd has done an incredible job the last few years and will continue to be a really, really beneficial part of our program and an asset to our program. But with a lot of the restrictions with staffing and COVID and everything that goes on, there's an argument to say that the best development for those guys will to be as close to us as possible this year. But also, whether it's with the Herd, or if not with the Herd, with different teams in that bubble, getting guys opportunities and exposure to play, to play fiveon-five basketball and competitive basketball if they're not getting that at the Bucks level, that is something we're considering as we try to weigh these options of whether or not to be part of the G-league bubble.”