Bucks GM Jon Horst on bold Damian Lillard move, Myles Turner acquisition - The Athletic

The Milwaukee Bucks made a surprising and dramatic offseason move by waiving Damian Lillard, who is expected to miss much of the 2025-26 season recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. To manage the nearly $113 million remaining on his contract, the team used the "waive-and-stretch" provision, spreading the cost over five seasons, resulting in roughly $22.5 million in "dead money" on their salary cap each year. This difficult decision was made to create sufficient cap space.

This freed cap space enabled the Bucks to sign highly sought-after free agent Myles Turner to a four-year, $108.9 million contract. Bucks General Manager Jon Horst stated that the guiding principle behind this and all decisions is "maximizing Giannis’ prime, our opportunities to win," framing it as a "now versus future decision."

Beyond the Lillard/Turner transaction, the rest of the Bucks' offseason involved adding three new players and re-signing six of their own free agents from the previous season. While less dramatic than the main move, this combination still resulted in one of the summer's most surprising roster shake-ups.

The Athletic conducted an interview with Horst at NBA Summer League, discussing the offseason moves and the team's philosophy. Part 1 of the conversation focused on big-picture topics. Highlights included Horst explaining that improving the team immediately outweighed the future risk of dead money, stating they had a "big hurdle" to deal with now. He revealed acquiring Turner via waive-and-stretch was an avenue they were "always exploring" and that Turner was "always been a target." Horst also discussed plans to lean more into Giannis Antetokounmpo's playmaking, believing "He truly is becoming a real point guard," expressed strong confidence in coach Doc Rivers as a "championship-level coach" and "the right coach," and asserted that he has "done everything within my human possible power this offseason." Part 2 of the interview, focusing on specific moves and player impacts, is scheduled for release on Friday.