The Bucks have signed general manager Jon Horst to a contract extension, the team announced today in a press release. Horst, whose deal would have expired in 2020, received a three-year extension, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
“Jon’s strong leadership and savvy decision-making ability have been instrumental as we continue to build the Bucks into a championship-caliber organization,” Bucks co-owners Wes Edens, Marc Lasry, and Jamie Dinan said in a statement. “He has brought smart processes to our basketball operations and together with head coach Mike Budenholzer and president Peter Feigin, Jon has done an incredible job connecting the basketball and business sides of our organization. We are excited about the future of our team and confident in Jon leading us to the highest level.”
When the Bucks were seeking a new head of basketball operations in 2017 following John Hammond‘s departure for Orlando, Horst was the surprise choice, receiving a promotion from his director of basketball operations role.
Under Horst’s watch, Milwaukee has improved from a middle-of-the-pack team to a legit championship contender. The Bucks won an NBA-best 60 games in 2018/19 and came within two games of the NBA Finals. It was the first time the club had won a playoff series since 2001.
While the continued growth of stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton contributed significantly to Milwaukee’s improvement, free agent and trade additions like Brook Lopez and Eric Bledsoe played key roles, as did Budenholzer, Horst’s first head coaching hire.
As we relayed last week, Horst has been the NBA’s lowest-paid general manager during his first two years on the job, so his extension will almost certainly come with a raise. Financial details of his new deal aren’t yet known.
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