Milwaukee Bucks GM Jon Horst said the decisions to trade Khris Middleton was “the hardest transaction” he’s made. But Horst was clear that he felt the moves to add Kyle Kuzma, along with Jericho Sims and Kevin Porter, were necessary to improve his team.
“Collectively, I think we’re deeper in the spots we needed to be deeper,” Horst said. “This gave us an opportunity to diversify a little bit, to kind of put money and talent and roster spots in other places where I thought we needed help.”
Horst said that Middleton’s availability due to injuries wasn’t much of a factor in the deal. The Bucks GM also said that getting under the second apron wasn’t the goal of the deal, but that it’s an additional benefit.
“We believe that this gives us a better chance to win this year,” Horst said. “It happens to also put us under the second apron, which gives us some benefits going forward. There’s no question. And we’ll hopefully maximize those benefits. But that wasn’t the intent.”