Bucks GM Gets Brutally Honest About Giannis Antetokounmpo Trade
The Milwaukee Bucks are a couple of weeks removed from making the franchise-altering move of trading two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat.
It has not only changed the Bucks’ landscape but also shifted the organization’s direction for the foreseeable future. General manager Jon Horst said it was nothing short of a difficult decision that puts Milwaukee in the position of having to rebuild once again.
“No one’s sitting here today and saying that we’re a better team today after trading Giannis,” Horst said during a conference call with reporters Wednesday via ESPN. “He’s one of the greatest players to ever play, greatest player in the franchise history. We’ve had an incredible amount of success.
“For us, it was just about the opportunity to build and to again, set a foundation. Can we set something in place with a new coach and take advantage of an opportunity to truly build from a place of strength on a roster that hopefully makes our city proud, our franchise proud and gets us to the place where we are competitive? And we can sustain that competition and that competitive level year in and year out.”
Things had reached an inevitable end, as the Bucks were no longer putting forth a team and game plan that fit Antetokounmpo’s mission of competing for NBA titles. He had been adamantly voicing his desire to contend for more championships, but the front office continued to fail to put together rosters around their star player that would put them there.
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The Bucks are now hitting the reset button without their franchise cornerstone, while Antetokounmpo will attempt to help elevate the Heat into championship contention as the organization builds the roster around him.
