Bucks GM Explains Reasoning Behind Giannis Antetokounmpo Trade

“No one’s sitting here today and saying that we’re a better team today after trading Giannis,” Horst said. “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.”

Horst spent the past few years trying to avoid parting with Antetokounmpo and went to great lengths in an effort to keep the team in title contention and keep his star player happy. He traded for Damian Lillard in 2023 to bring another elite scorer to Milwaukee, and when Lillard suffered an Achilles tear during the 2025 playoffs, Horst took the unusual step of waiving and stretching the remainder of his contract to create cap room to sign Myles Turner.

But those gambles weren’t enough to stop the erosion of the Bucks’ roster, as the team went 32-50 this season after being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs the previous three years. Antetokounmpo grew increasingly unhappy with the direction of the franchise and was shipped to Miami along with Bobby Portis in exchange for Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, this year’s No. 13 pick, two future first-rounders, a pick swap and a second-rounder.

Antetokounmpo also drew serious interest from Boston, which included Jaylen Brown as part of its offer, but Horst said he chose the Heat’s package because of the plentiful draft assets and the youth of the incoming players.

“There is a sense of excitement because it’s a different challenge,” Horst said. “It’s something new. I get excited about trying to put pieces together. We’ve got a lot of work to do. And if there’s any sense of peace, it’s that I think Giannis is in a similar situation. It’s different. A different set of circumstances. But he’s in a place that he’s got a real opportunity to do the things that he wants to do.”

Horst admitted that it was “a very difficult decision” to part with Antetokounmpo, who had been on the roster since he was selected with the 15th pick in the 2013 draft. In that time, he set numerous franchise records, led the Bucks to the second title in their history in 2021 and became one of the most popular athletes ever to play in Milwaukee.

Horst added that he didn’t feel pressured to move on from Antetokounmpo and only agreed to the trade when he believed he had a deal that was in the team’s best interest.

“This was not a ‘have to,'” he said. “This was, we truly believed we’ve found an opportunity which is unique. We might be right. We might be wrong. But an opportunity where this is what’s best for him and what he wants to pursue going forward, and this is what’s best for us and what we want to pursue going forward. And that’s why we made the decision.

“Ultimately, the only thing that mattered to us organizationally was to work to try to find a trade — if we were going to do a trade — to try to find a trade that we thought gave us the best path forward. And if we could do that and have it be a great opportunity for him, we would execute that.”