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Q&A with Bucks GM Jon Horst: On tax aprons, new ownership and Giannis' health
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- Q&A with Bucks GM Jon Horst: On tax aprons, new ownership and Giannis' health
LAS VEGAS – The Milwaukee Bucks are wrapping up the NBA's Summer League in Las Vegas, ending the formal parts of the offseason that began early with an unexpected first round playoff exit against Miami. Over the last two-plus months, the team has changed head coaches, re-signed core free agents Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez and drafted and signed players to fit a new style of basketball under Adrian Griffin.
Bucks general manager Jon Horst sat down with the Journal Sentinel to talk about operating under a new ownership construct, a new collective bargaining agreement as well as the league's new in-season tournament, Giannis Antetokounmpo 's continued trajectory and more.
Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst has two draft picks to use, or trade, in the 2024 NBA Draft on June 26-27, 2024.
The following Q&A has been edited for clarity.
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After navigating through the first offseason of the new collective bargaining agreement, where does Milwaukee stand regarding the first and second tax aprons? And how did you work within the parameters of the new CBA?
Horst: First, as always, a huge credit to the NBA and to the player's union in just continuing to create an environment for us to work and to operate and to really have one of the best, if not the best, sports business in the world. So we have a new CBA and we're all operating under it and at some level, we're all learning it. Credit to our guys Mike Sneathern, our lead counsel, (vice president of basketball strategy and analytics) Pat Haneman, (director of basketball strategy and analytics) Samer Jassar, they really study this stuff and work tirelessly to understand the implications of it. We are above the second apron this season. It's something that we were aware of going into. There are some implications and some restrictions because of that. Some things with how you can trade players. Later on in the season if a player were to be waived or bought out of their contract, our ability to acquire them. Some things with exceptions that we had available to us in signing players who weren't our own free agents. So there were some things this year that had some implications. And then going forward, there's some other implications. It's a rule and kind of a new part of the CBA that's going to continue to evolve and grow, but this year we are aware of it. We are above the second apron and we felt like it was something that we could manage and really our goal and our focus was build the best team that we could, and that led us to a place where we're above the second apron.
( Note: Certain penalties only begin if a team exceeds the second tax apron twice over a four-year span. )
Was knowing that the cap is projected to rise each year part of the calculus in how you negotiated multi-year deals this offseason?
Horst: I won't get into specifics of our strategy per se, but I do believe we spend as much if not more time than anybody else studying these things, making the best projections and calculated estimates we can and try to have strategic contracts, strategic structure of our overall salary and payroll. We try to invest in players that fit us on and off the floor, the non-financial, the non-business components of it. So some of the things you referenced are considered in that assessment. But, I don't want to get into the specifics of what we did or didn't look at, but I do believe we do a really good job of being strategic of how we try to plan and predict these things.
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Along those lines, it's easy to notice that many players have similar contract lengths in terms of team-controlled years and their player options. You have noted some of that was intentional. How much flexibility does that give the team going forward?
Horst: There was definitely some intentionality what we tried to do. And there are other things that are negotiated and you do the best that you can to try to execute your plan and your vision for building something. Having team control when you're investing in young players and people is kind of part of our business and it's kind of one of the returns that you get for taking bets on players. The reward that they get is they get to be in a great environment like ours and a great culture and grow and develop and they get paid and rewarded to do it and play underneath the great veterans that we have on our roster. So, those things are not all cap-related and future-planning related. Some of them are system-related and development-related as well. There is, without a doubt, an intentionality to try make sure that we maximize where we're at right now with this team and always having an eye toward the future to try to figure out what the next version of this team looks like. That doesn't necessarily mean that there's major changes to the roster or there is or there isn't, it just means that we gotta have an eye toward that and continue to look at how we're going to build this two, three, four, five years down the road because the whole goal has always been to sustain our success over a long period of time. I think we're going into our fifth year of really being in a position where we feel like we can contend and compete for a championship and that's the goal, year in and year out, to be in that position. We don't want it to just be five years or six years, we want it to be eight, nine, 10 and more years. That's part of my job. There's a lot of things that we decided to do this offseason that pushed us towards that.
You also worked with a new ownership construct with Wes Edens back as the team's governor and Jimmy Haslam as a new co-owner. What, if anything, was different about working with them?
Horst: Wes Edens, Jimmy Haslam, Jamie Dinan and the rest of our ownership group have given incredible support to the team. And that's been consistent throughout Wes and Jamie's ownership tenure and Jimmy has really hit the ground running and come in and been very much an advocate for what we do, very supportive of our team and our efforts toward the goal that we talked about – sustaining our championship window and being in a position every single year to have a chance to win. That's what we love to do in sports in Milwaukee. We're blessed to be able to do it with a star like Giannis and a core group like Khris and Jrue and Brook and Pat, Grayson, Bobby and going on down. Jimmy and Dee have been an unbelievable fit for me personally. They've been great to work with. The dynamic with Jimmy and Wes and Jamie has been really, really strong. And I think they'll continue to grow and hit their rhythm and their process and I'll continue to learn more about what that dynamic looks like, but in terms of kind of our first run through what could be an intense draft and free agency period, has been awesome. I've really enjoyed working with them as a group, as a collective. It's been great.
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The league announced the new in-season tournament . On a larger level, what do you think of the concept and on a team-level, how did you digest the idea since the main focus is playing deep into June?
Horst: I think at the general, high level, I just applaud the NBA. It's really cool to be part of a big business that champions creativity and trying things differently and thinking outside the box and really pushing the envelope. You've seen that with the play-in (tournament). You've seen that with rule changes. You see that with how we market our players and how we market our team. The social initiatives that we dive. I'm just really grateful to be part of an organization that does that, headed by (commissioner) Adam (Silver) and (deputy commissioner) Mark ( Tatum ) and the group. When you think about fan engagement, it gives the fans something else to be excited about during the season which is a great thing. We're all in this business because we want to compete. I actually subscribe to the fact that no matter what the trophy is, someone wants to win it – so let's go for it and try and win a trophy. I believe in that. And it creates, potentially, another sector of the viewership that maybe we haven't engaged. I don't know. I'm just spit-balling, but it could be a group of people who are really into football, into Premier League football, into other sports accustomed to this Cup play and things like that and they've never really checked us out because we don't do that and now they've checked us out. So, at a really high level, I think it's cool to be a part of a group that really pushes the envelope on that. Of course there's things, considerations with your scheduling and playing and load managing – all the things that people are going to talk about. I'm sure it all matters. They'll figure it out. It's a new thing for all of us. But at a super high level, what a cool thing to be a part of.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has often called Bobby Portis one of the best American big men, and now he's going to compete for the U.S. in the upcoming World Cup. What does that mean for him on and off the court?
Horst: I don't ever want to speak for him because this is his moment, but from my perspective – an outsider who's never had a chance to do what Brook has and Khris has and Giannis has and Jrue and now Bobby, even Pat at different levels – to play for your country and represent your country in an international event has to be one of the coolest things ever. I do know that Bobby is incredibly excited. He's very proud of the moment. He takes it very seriously. He's absolutely working his tail off to be ready for those events and to do his best and to represent Milwaukee and represented the United States of America. And, it'll help him come into our training camp better. Hopefully there's a confidence boost from it, a motivation from it, his physical improvement from it. I just think all in all, it's a really strong positive. He is really excited about it, and he's very deserving. We really helped talk to (USA Basketball) in the past about his value to us and what he means to the locker room and what he means to the competitive environment and how he could fit in international basketball. I think he's going to have a hell of a tournament, I really do.
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MarJon Beauchamp has looked like a guy who's made a jump from his debut in Las Vegas a year ago to what we've seen this last week. Role definition is ultimately up to Adrian, but does it look like MarJon is knocking on the door of being a rotational contributor?
Horst: He's definitely developing in a way that we hoped he could and would. There's no question about that. I wouldn't say it's an expectation because they have to put in the work. They have to put in the time. It's a hope for sure when you draft somebody, and it's a belief. We drafted MarJon because we had a high level of belief in the person that he is, the work ethic that he had and the baseline skill set that he had, and I thought last year he took massive steps in his first year as a rookie. He played meaningful minutes at meaningful times in the regular season and he played well. He hasn't rested on that. He's had a great offseason. He's worked on his body, he's worked on his game. He's really been dedicated to getting better, and this is an opportunity to show us and to show himself and his coaches and his teammates the results of all that work. And he'll go from here. Whatever he does the rest of the summer league, he'll go from here and he'll work again. Then his next opportunity to show everybody will be training camp. And then it'll be the preseason and then the regular season. What that means in terms of rotation or playing time, I have no idea. I just wan to see the right path, and he's definitely on the right direction, the right path, and he's approaching it in absolutely the right way. I think he looks great. I really do. I think he's had a really good summer.
Antetokounmpo had an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee this summer – is he on track to be ready for the start of the regular season?
Horst: Oh yeah. Everything went really great. His knee is doing great.
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Last year Antetokounmpo played through knee soreness, hand and wrist injuries and then the back injury in the playoffs. You've often said there is no ceiling for him as far as what he can accomplish, so what do you foresee a healthy Antetokounmpo being able to do under Griffin and his staff?
Horst: I think all of us want to constantly grow and evolve and get better and there's no one that wants that more than Giannis. Being healthy, feeling great, feeling rested, refreshed I think will contribute to that. 'Griff' is going to challenge him in different ways, coach him in different ways and we're going to play him in different ways. And so, those are all opportunities for him to be better individually and for us to be better as a team. That applies to everybody, not just to Giannis. That's yet to be seen. I can't tell you what it will look like. But the thing that I consistently say and it's not because it's like an easy catchphrase, and you alluded to it – it would be silly to put limits on this guy. Anyone who has ever put a limit on him he's just exceeds it. He's going to continue to grow and evolve and develop and get better. That I know for sure. And that's the only, really, parameter or cap I'd ever put on it which is just, I'm going to handicap and just say 'he's going to get better.' What that looks like, we'll all find out together. But he works incredibly hard. He works incredibly smart. And he cares. The 'Griff' part will be a part of it. Our team will be a part of it. His health is part of it. But none of that is new. That's always been the case. And he just keeps always getting better."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Q&A with Bucks GM Jon Horst: On tax aprons, new ownership and Giannis' health
