Take a Bow, Jon Horst

With Giannis Antetokounmpo's recent multi-year extension, we look at how Jon Horst pulled off the Milwaukee Bucks' boldest offseason yet.

To tell the story of this offseason for the Milwaukee Bucks, it's best to tell it through the eyes of someone who doesn't want to be in the limelight at all.

Throughout his six-plus years of his tenure as Bucks general manager, Jon Horst has managed to maintain an air of mystery. Yes, he'll make the occasional media rounds, whether it's joining a podcast with an ESPN insider like Adrian Wojnarowski or the occasional media scrum with the great beat reporters in this Milwaukee market. But by his preference, Horst deals in the cloak and dagger. What is truly revealing about the work he has done isn't usually revealed by himself at all. The words that he shares doesn’t necessarily match up to how things occur later.

But Horst's work is in the job and in the details. And there has been no greater task on his mind throughout these years than working to enrich and appease Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. The foundation and trust built between both sides since Antetokounmpo was drafted by the Bucks more than 10 years ago is the basis behind he and the organization pulling off the boldest offseason in franchise history.

Everything we thought was unlikely to have happen this offseason has occurred all under Horst's watch. The Bucks traded for a superstar in Damian Lillard to pair with Antetokounmpo. The effect of pulling off that landmark move led to Antetokounmpo recently signing an extension that he himself said that he wouldn't sign before and after the Lillard trade.

Having a change of heart wouldn't have been possible without establishing a cause in the Bucks making the move for Lillard. And as revealed by Wojnarowski in the aftermath of the trade, it reminded everyone that Horst is at his best when a Bucks offseason resembles a high wire act.

The parallels are obvious to when the Bucks crashed out of the playoffs while in the bubble. Uncertainty and rampant speculation surrounding Antetokounmpo as he was eligible to sign a supermax extension led to Horst pulling off his original masterstroke of trading for Jrue Holiday. The risk of effectively surrendering control of five years worth of first round picks has since been mitigated nearly three years later with this latest offseason coup and after Antetokounmpo signed what was the biggest contract in NBA history at the time.

No matter how high the odds are stacked against him, Horst has defied what has been seemingly impossible. He responds best to challenges that seem out of the Bucks' reach, even if it comes with great risk on the back end. He has been audacious and daring to guide the Bucks throughout this prolonged golden era. Of course, having that freedom comes when you have the best player in franchise history on your roster.

Not for nothing, Horst got the smaller things right too this offseason, by comparison to the Lillard and Antetokounmpo. He retained championship core members in Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton and did so on team friendly deals. In a four-point plan for executing this offseason, Horst has gotten three key things down before the season even started. The biggest point that is left unanswered is what Horst had to address in the wake of the Bucks' greatest playoff disappointment.

Entrusting someone who does not have a track record as an NBA head coach runs counter to Horst's biggest splashes, whether it be Holiday, Lillard or originally hiring Mike Budenholzer. What can't be denied is that Griffin is taking the reins to a Bucks roster that might be the most talented in franchise history. Questions of age and durability linger, especially with how the Bucks looked at the end of last season, and it will be a tall task for Griffin to make sure this reimagined core can play true to its talent throughout the year.

This is Horst's biggest leap of faith yet. He acted when the Bucks suffered their greatest lapse. He has embraced venturing into the uncomfortable and uncertainty and how the Bucks come out from the other side of an offseason unlike any other will chart the next course in this era of Bucks basketball.

Make no mistake, though, the relationship between Antetokounmpo and Horst will be core to how this team continues to evolve. The success of one does not happen without the other and vice versa. Horst has had to serve two masters, to borrow a trademark phrase from his predecessor John Hammond, and as the core of this team has changed over time, the constants behind the Bucks' success remain valuable to the next phase. Whether that is Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Horst.

Now all that is left is for this Bucks season to begin.