Jon Horst can't squander the draft capital he gets for Giannis

The momentum for Giannis exiting Milwaukee has reached full tilt. The Miami Heat are still rumored to be favorites in the Antetokounmpo sweepstakes. The alleged offer centers around emerging talents in Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr and Nikola Jovic. The veteran in the group is hometown product Tyler Herro. The draft capital is said to include three first round picks and a pair of future pick swaps.

Here comes the tricky part:

Jon Horst is a notoriously poor drafting GM.

So, can he be trusted with the draft capital Giannis is sure to bring?

The Miami Heat's Giannis Antetokoumpo Offer Reminds of This Trade https://t.co/YJAz7wU0pN
— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) June 11, 2026

The management, coaches and owners of an NBA franchise can only do so much. The players at the end of the day are the most responsible for wins and losses. There is a middle ground at that is the General Manager because they are directly responsible for who gets brought into the organization. Jon Horst is the GM of the Milwaukee Bucks’ He has held that title since 2017.

He has his strengths which includes identifying Jrue Holiday as a key player to trade for in 2020 with the New Orleans Pelicans. He deserves credit for that. He also drafted a functional role player for the Bucks championship run in Donte DiVincenzo with the 17th overall pick.

However, in that same 2018 draft class he passed on multiple time All-star and All NBA player, Jalen Brunson who is now leading the New York Knicks within one game of the NBA title.

Just a year prior in 2017 He took a project big in DJ Wilson over super role players Josh Hart and OG Anunoby who are also currently playing for the Knicks in the finals. There were three other notable players in the class he could have chosen as well such as; All Star Jarett Allen, John Collins, Kyle Kuzma and former All NBA Defensive member Derrick White.

You may be inclined to give Horst some grace because that was his first two years in the role. You may want to rethink that position when you look at some more recent drafts. In 2022 he took Marjon Beauchamp at pick 24 passing on; Peyton Watson, Andrew Nembhard, Jaylin Williams and Max Christie. These players are all on their second contract or about to be. They all contributed to the contending teams. MarJon only lasted in the league for 2.5 years.

The consensus among talent evaluators is that the 2024 NBA Draft is the worst draft since 2013.

Thunder GM Sam Presti does not see it that way. pic.twitter.com/LMVqCwx9WK
— The Athletic NBA (@TheAthleticNBA) May 28, 2024

The 2024 draft class was dubbed as the worst draft class of all time by the NBA pundits and general managers around the league. Once the class was studied there was surprisingly good talent in the class.

Horst kept the pick and made the selection of a super talented but extremely skinny AJ Johnson at pick 23. He passed on bigger more physically ready to play players in; Keyshawn George, Terrence Shannon Jr, Isaiah Collier, Ajay Mitchell, Jaylen Wells and Pelle Larsson. All these players have made a bigger impact than Johnson.

Giannis could net a haul that has the potential to accelerate the rebuild in Milwaukee, but the real question that remains to be answered is if Jon Horst is the right GM for the job.

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