No one raised a finger when the Milwaukee Bucks let go of Jrue Holiday to acquire Damian Lillard in September 2023. A year later, the tables turned drastically. After Holiday won the 2024 championship with the Boston Celtics, critics began questioning the motive behind the move. Amidst the displeasure, the Bucks General Manager, Jon Horst, stood his ground, refusing to apologize for this trade.
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The 41-year-old recently detailed to The Athletic’s Eric Nehm about their business during the last offseason. He recalled completing the roster well before the opportunity to sign Lillard arose. But the latter’s sudden availability changed everything. Consequently, Horst became determined to bring Dame to Wisconsin, even at the cost of existing team chemistry. Reminiscing about this period, he mentioned,
“I don’t apologize for it… We had an offseason. We built a team, and then we had an incredible opportunity to acquire an NBA All-75th team and pair him with another NBA All-75th team, late in the offseason and we did it. And then we try to do the best that we can and put a team together following that”.
Bucks GM Jon Horst on trading Jrue Holiday for Damian Lillard last offseason:
“I don’t apologize for it… We had an offseason. We built a team, and then we had an incredible opportunity to acquire an NBA All-75th team, and pair him with another NBA All-75th team, late in the… pic.twitter.com/S2ZkOHDsiQ
— TheBucksZone (@TheBucksZoneIG) July 26, 2024
It’s hard to argue with this justification, especially considering the form of these players at the time. On the one hand, Lillard had just concluded his best-ever individual regular season, averaging 32.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 7.3 assists. On the other hand, Holiday recorded an underwhelming offensive season, contributing to the Bucks’ first-round exit against the Miami Heat in the 2023 playoffs.
Dame’s inclusion was supposed to boost the team’s offensive prowess, but things didn’t go as planned. Instability and dubious decisions from the management prevented the team from establishing a clear playing identity. This ultimately cost the Bucks in this year’s postseason, leading to another first-round exit.
On the contrary, Holiday showed how stat line often didn’t justify his contributions on the floor. The Celtics, for instance, benefited immensely from his defensive efforts, as their roster had the personnel to make up for his offensive shortcomings. As a result, he was integral in their title run despite averaging merely 13.2 points per game in the playoffs.
