Horst Says 'Maximizing Giannis' Prime' is Bucks' Responsibility amid NBA Trade Rumors
Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst told The Athletic's Eric Nehm that he waived Damian Lillard and signed Myles Turner because he feels it's his "responsibility" to give Giannis Antetokounmpo the best chance of contending in the near future.
“Maximizing Giannis’ prime, our opportunities to win, I feel like that’s our responsibility always. So it was really a now versus future decision," Horst told Nehm.
The Bucks waived Lillard with two years and $113 million remaining on his contract just over two months after he suffered an Achilles injury that could sideline him for the entirety of the 2025-26 season.
That move will cost the Bucks $22.5 million in dead money over each of the next five seasons, per ESPN's Bobby Marks.
It will also allow the Bucks to avoid paying Lillard more than $50 million in salary in each of the next two seasons while stealing Turner away from the rival Indiana Pacers on a four-year, $107 million deal.
"We looked at the opportunity to acquire a highly productive, elite free agent, who is in the prime of his career, and who is an incredible fit next to Giannis, as an opportunity for these next two seasons in particular, instead of what would have been Dame on our books at a full salary, as really opportunistic, more than anything," Horst told Nehm.
"The carry for the following three years, there’s no question that if you want to call it an impediment or another hurdle, that’s fine. But we were dealing with a really big hurdle and complication that we had to figure out how to deal with now, and the now matters more than anything."
Antetokounmpo, 30, is currently signed for two more seasons with the Bucks with a player option for 2027-28. He could sign a short-term extension as early as 2026 and ink another four-year deal in 2028, Adrian Wojnarowski previously reported for ESPN.
The Bucks have signaled their intention to continue building around Antetokounmpo multiple times since a May report from ESPN's Shams Charania that the star was "open-minded" about potentially playing for another team.
"We kind of laugh internally. It's where we've been for ten years," Bucks president Peter Feigin said Monday on an NBA TV Summer League broadcast when asked about how he saw the franchise's relationship with Antetokounmpo going forward. "Giannis loves Milwaukee, Milwaukee loves Giannis. We're in a good place."
Antetokounmpo finished in the top five for MVP voting for a seventh straight season while leading the NBA with 11.8 field goals made per game last season.
Horst and Feigin will now hope adding Turner as the team's starting center beside Antetokounmpo will help the superstar contend for a third MVP award before leading the Bucks on a deep playoff run for the first time since the franchise's 2021 championship.
