Jon Horst is a fascinating fella. The moves he makes always seem to come out of left field. He works in silence and almost never does what’s obvious. You have to tip your cap to the guy, because the swings he takes have resulted in a championship, but also, more importantly, Giannis Antetokounmpo sticking around for all these years. He’s definitely not a bad GM, but he’s an unorthodox one for sure.
The main thing that makes the way Horst does business abstract is his taste in players. In the iconic movie Moneyball, Billy Beane seeks out players who are statistically effective but have some sort of prominent flaw. Horst does exactly that. Think about Milwaukee’s roster for second. It’s full of guys with odd and unique quirks.
Bobby Portis, for example, can be a game-changing microwave scorer off the bench, but he might be the least willing passer in the league and he’s addicted to head-scratching long twos.
Kevin Porter Jr. is one of the 75 most talented basketball players in the world, but he processes the game worse than some high school point guards and his shot selection is putrid.
Kyle Kuzma, to his credit, is having a genuinely solid bounce-back season after a pretty brutal 2025 playoffs, but, more often than not, he makes the sport look incredibly hard to play. The dude is just awkward.
Jericho Sims has bricks for hands.
Even Giannis himself has some fundamental flaws to his game, most notably his endlessly mind-blowingly poor performances at the free throw line.
Now, basketball is inherently a game of tradeoffs. No player or roster is without their blemishes, so winning games is all about maximizing the strengths of your personnel while hiding the downsides as much as possible. That said, though, this Milwaukee squad is extra weird, and unfortunately, it’s starting to show in the standings. This is the worst the Bucks have been in a long time. Even with Giannis healthy, it was clear heading into the trade deadline that there wasn’t much upside for things to get better without a classic Horst shocker. So, all eyes were on the man in the front office at the trade deadline. What would he do to try and turn things around for this team?
Well, he added another Moneyball guy, of course. Enter Cam Thomas.
Thomas is the best scorer on the planet. Just ask him, he’ll tell you. When he’s on the floor, he’s chucking up a shot every time he gets a chance. He’d rather take the most stupidly difficult middie you’ve ever seen than swing the rock. His playstyle is bonkers, as is his seeming unwillingness to change the way he approaches the game. To be fair, though, Thomas is unbelievably gifted when it comes to putting the ball in the net. He’s a 20-point game disguised as a human with an emotionless face.
You can’t blame Horst at all for taking a gamble on a talent like Thomas on such a cheap contract. There’s serious boom potential here, no matter what way you spin it.
But, at the same time, try to imagine a lineup of Thomas, Kevin Porter Jr., Kyle Kuzma, Bobby Portis and Jericho Sims without physically cringing or laughing out loud. There’s a relatively high chance that we’ll see that group spend significant time on the court together in the near future.
Look, things are pretty bleak for the Bucks right now. Giannis is injured. Cam Thomas is apparently supposed to be the savior. Fans are so starved for young talent that they’re rallying around Ousmane Dieng.
(Dieng, by the way, represents Horst’s other favorite type of flawed player: the “what does he even do?” prospect. Every year, the man drafts some raw kid with no clear NBA skill instead of a polished multi-year collegiate product, and he’s found little success in doing so. MarJon Beauchamp, AJ Johnson, Tyler Smith and Chris Livingston have all flamed out already. You’d think Horst would’ve learned his lesson by now.)
Despite all that, one thing is for sure: Bucks fans shouldn’t give up on this team. We’ve enjoyed quite the run of success in the Giannis era. We saw them win a freaking championship, man! Things were always going to spiral at some point, and the beginning of that fall off seems to be upon us. However, that doesn’t mean Milwaukee faithful should jump ship during the rebuilding period.
It’s gonna be frustrating to watch the post-All-Star-break Bucks if they’re going to commit to the tank. You’re probably going to want to throw your remote at your TV screen after watching KPJ and Cam Thomas take turns chucking up prayers. But, it would also be fun to see Ousmane Dieng break out into a real NBA player. It will be exciting when Thomas goes for 45 points in a meaningless game in April. If/when Giannis comes back, it’s always an absolute pleasure witnessing his greatness.
At the end of the day, part of true fandom is riding with your team through thick and thin. The Bucks are in the thick, yes, but there’s plenty of joy to be found in it. Stick with this funky, occasionally irritating yet lovable squad and it will feel extra rewarding when they return to contender status one day.
At the end of the day, at least you don’t have to be a Kings fan.
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