The Milwaukee Bucks swung for the fences last summer when they decided to part ways with Jrue Holiday in a blockbuster trade deal for Damian Lillard. At this point, it wouldn’t be too difficult to determine who won that trade — at least thus far.
After all, Holiday went on to win his second career championship with the Boston Celtics this past season while Lillard had to settle for another early first-round exit with his new team.
Milwaukee Bucks News: Jon Horst Has No Regrets
One of the main proponents behind last summer’s landscape-shifting deal was Bucks general manager Jon Horst. In a recent interview, the Milwaukee boss was asked if now that he has the benefit of hindsight, would he agree that the Bucks are better constructed to have Holiday, and not Lillard, as the team’s floor general.
Horst was brutally honest in his response.
“We’ve talked about this a little bit in some of the other media sessions that I’ve had, but I agree. And I don’t apologize for it,” Horst told Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “I think it’s just the nature of our business. We had an offseason. We built a team, and then we had an incredible opportunity to acquire an NBA All-75th Anniversary team, top-75 player and pair him with another NBA All-75th Anniversary team, top-75 player late in the offseason and we did it. And then we try to do the best that we can and put a team together following that.”
While it is clear that Horst does hold some regret, he is also adamant that it was still the right decision to make.
The good news for the Bucks is that they still have a chance to prove to the basketball world that trading for Lillard was the right move. This all begins this coming season, and for his part, Horst is very much looking forward to the opportunity.
“So I’m really looking forward to this year. I think the guys are too. There’s a motivation here,” he said.
“Obviously we have to be healthy, so we can realize the benefits in the playoffs of some of these really strong regular-season metrics that we had, but I think those things will all be better. And we’re going to figure out how to be healthier and continue to be successful, not only in the regular season, but in the playoffs.”
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