The Milwaukee Bucks have agreed to a multi-year contract extension with general manager Jon Horst, according to ESPN. The decision to retain Horst comes as the Bucks face a 2-0 deficit against the Indiana Pacers in their first-round playoff series. The Bucks lost in the first round against Indiana last season as well and, given the precarious situation they find themselves heading into this offseason, rumors have hinted at possible changes in Milwaukee should the Bucks indeed get knocked out by the Pacers again. Any such changes will not, apparently, include a general manager.
Horst got the general manager position in Milwaukee under odd circumstances. The Bucks have an unusual ownership structure in which two owners — at the time Marc Lasry and Wes Edens, now Edens and Jimmy Haslam — serve alternating five-year terms as team governor. When the Bucks needed a general manager in 2017, Edens, who was the governor at the time, reportedly did not want to promote Justin Zanik, who was widely seen as the likely hire. Co-owners Lasry and Jamie Dinan did want Zanik, but without unanimity, they conducted a full search. That search did not yield an outside candidate that all three agreed on, so they promoted Horst from within.
Since then, he’s built the Bucks into a steady contender. Milwaukee has not missed the playoffs under Horst and won the franchise’s second NBA championship in 2021. He’s done this while dealing with the looming threat that two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo could leave the only franchise he’s ever known. To avert that threat in 2020, he traded for Jrue Holiday. That deal led to their championship. In 2023, he again got Antetokounmpo to sign a contract extension by trading for Damian Lillard. That move has not worked out nearly as well, at least thus far, and it has cost Milwaukee quite a bit of roster flexibility and draft capital.
Still, the Bucks haven’t wavered on Horst as their top basketball executive. Last offseason, the Bucks reportedly denied Horst permission to speak with the Detroit Pistons about their top job. Horst had previously worked for the Pistons, but Milwaukee kept him in place and Detroit hired Trajan Langdon instead.
Now the Bucks have front office consistency heading into an absolutely vital offseason. Starting center Brook Lopez is set to become a free agent. A handful of other important Bucks have player options and, of course, rumors that Antetokounmpo might eventually force a trade still loom large. Either the Bucks will attempt to rebuild a contender around Antetokounmpo and Lillard with limited assets and cap flexibility or they will have to navigate potentially moving on from one or both and resetting this era of Bucks basketball. Either way, they will do so with Horst at the helm.
