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Asked if the game played a role in the signing, Thanasis admitted that it did: “For sure. They were here after the first game against Italy, and they were excited because I was playing defense. I was doing my job, that’s my role. The important thing is that everyone who returns (after such an injury) with a team, or in a tournament like this, has to prove themselves again. That’s basketball. Whatever you have done so far counts; it’s your resume, but you have to prove it every day. That’s professional sports”.
Tas Melas: NBA front office executives or coaches I’ve seen at #EuroBasket: Bucks: Jon Horst, Doc Rivers, Darvin Ham. Lakers: Rob Pelinka, Jeanie Buss, Kurt Rambis. Trail Blazers: Chauncey Billups. Kings: BJ Armstrong, Doug Christie. Nuggets: Josh Kroenke.
Giannis Antetokounmpo powers Greece over Italy
Giannis Antetokounmpo took over for Greece on the way to a 75-66 victory versus Italy in the opener for both countries in EuroBasket 2025. Logging just over 29 minutes, the 30-year-old superstar finished with 31 points. He made 14/20 two-pointers and 3/4 free throws, alongside seven rebounds, two steals, and one assist. In addition to the Freak, the Milwaukee Bucks were represented in Spyros Kyprianou Arena by general manager Jon Horst, head coach Doc Rivers, and assistants Vin Baker and Darvin Ham.
Rafael Stone on Giannis Antetokounmpo talks: Bucks GM Jon Horst was very clear that they weren't doing anything
Fullcourtpass: Rockets GM Rafael Stone on if there was any truth to the Giannis-to-Houston trade buzz at the beginning of the offseason "No. I deal well with Jon Horst (Bucks GM), I really like him. Jon was very clear that they weren’t doing anything. So, that was that." (h/t @BucksRealm )
AJ Green has been extension-eligible for more than a week now. What have those conversations been like and how confident are you that you will be able to get an extension done with him? Jon Horst: First and foremost, the day that he became officially eligible to have extension conversations, he was the first call I made. I called him. We didn’t dive deep into negotiations, but I just told him how much we love him, believe in him, and want him here long term. And I did the same thing with his agent, Matt Bollero, who I love and respect in this business. And so we’ve already made the contact. AJ wants to be here, AJ wants to figure something out. Obviously, we’ve got to figure a deal out and we have the whole season to do it. I hope it doesn’t take that long. I think they hope it doesn’t take that long either, but as the dust starts to settle on a pretty busy offseason, that’ll be the most important thing for us to figure out with AJ. And I know he feels the same about trying to figure it out with us.
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At the trade deadline last season, you acquired Kevin Porter Jr., and after he declined his player option for this upcoming season, he signed a larger deal with you. I’m not sure if you’d go as far as saying you believe he is your starting point guard next season, but it feels like a massive opportunity for him. What led to your belief and trust in him to bring him back for a second season with the Bucks? Jon Horst: He’s another player that I think stepped up in the biggest moments in the playoffs. With no playoff experience, he came into a very hostile environment, pressure-loaded environment, and I thought was very, very good.
Jon Horst: He plays well off of Giannis, and people forget that a few years ago he was one of the best catch-and-shoot 3-point shooters in the league. He’s big, he’s physical, he can create for himself, he can create for others and can make shots. And he grew defensively with us this year, and I think he’s very capable on that end. Whether he’s our starter or not our starter, that’s for Doc (Rivers) to decide, but obviously we’ve invested in him and we want him around. We’ve tried to create a situation where he has a chance to thrive and grow, and if so, he can have his option and he can benefit from it. But for us to get that continuity of a guard who we thought played well with us after we acquired him was huge and I think he’s primed to have a really big year. He’s in the right environment, he’s in the right group that loves him and supports him and is to give him the chance to be his best.
Jon Horst on Damian Lillard buyout: We looked at the opportunity to acquire a highly productive, elite free agent, who is in the prime of his career, and who is an incredible fit next to Giannis, as an opportunity for these next two seasons in particular, instead of what would have been Dame on our books at a full salary, as really opportunistic, more than anything.
Jon Horst: The carry for the following three years, there’s no question that if you want to call it an impediment or another hurdle, that’s fine. But we were dealing with a really big hurdle and complication that we had to figure out how to deal with now, and the now matters more than anything. Maximizing Giannis’ prime, our opportunities to win, I feel like that’s our responsibility always. So it was really a now versus future decision. That being said, Myles is an incredible player in the prime of his career for four years. So four of those five years, we have Myles Turner, so it wasn’t like we just did something now and then we have to take four years of risk beyond this year and four years of carry without any production. We have four years, at least, of Myles Turner at elite production while that’s on our books. And there (are) other things that we did, there (are) other moves that we made, other players we’re able to acquire because of this move now that I believe will outweigh the carry of the 20-plus million dollars that we have.
Jon Horst: Have we done enough? We’ve done everything, I’ve done everything within my human possible power this offseason. I feel like our group works our butts off. I’ve got to shout out Dave Dean, Ryan Hoover, Milt Newton, Pat Haneman, Samer Jassar, David Mincberg, and Arjun Mahendroo, the whole group, we do everything we can to get better. We do everything we can to put the next version of this thing out there, to give Doc and Giannis and Bobby and Scoot (Kevin Porter Jr.) and the guys on our team every chance that they can to win every night. And so have we done enough? I don’t know. We’ll find out. Have we done everything that we possibly could? Absolutely. And have we done more than anyone else could possibly do? I believe we have. And that’s not an arrogant thing to say. In a very humble way. I think we’ve done as much or more than anyone else could possibly do, and I’m proud of that.
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Jon Horst: I think the reason why I still love working with Doc and I’m excited to work with Doc is because I think we have a chance to win with Doc. I think he’s a championship-level coach. He’s the right coach to get us to where we want to go. We haven’t had the results yet in our two years together that we wanted. But it’s been two of the most adversity-filled seasons that I’ve been part of. And we’ve had two really successful regular seasons. To go through the things that we went through, if people actually look at the facts of what we went through over two years — we still finished with a fifth seed and a third seed. Near 50 wins in both seasons. And then we lost to the team that lost in the conference finals two years ago and the team that lost in Game 7 of the finals this year. We lost to a really, really good Indiana Pacers organization that deserves everything that they’ve got. I mean, that team had an unbelievable two-year run and they beat everybody; they didn’t just beat us.
Bucks want to give Giannis Antetokounmpo more touches, more creative responsibility
"What makes Giannis comfortable here? One thing that they have pitched him on is having the ball in his hands a lot more next season. He played with a guy like Damian—brother, he ain’t going nowhere. He’s a dog. Anytime I see him playing basketball, everybody’s smiling. He’s good vibes. I don’t think there’s going to be any surprise if Thanasis might be on this team again. But they’re telling Giannis: we’ll give you more control, more touches, more creation responsibility. They believe they can compete in the Eastern Conference. Whether that’s true or not, that’s what they’re selling him. You essentially take somewhat of a gap year, retool this team, and push again next year. From my understanding, Jon Horst and Doc Rivers genuinely believe this team can make a run, especially if Giannis fully buys in. Whether that’s enough to satisfy him—we’ll see. But that’s the Bucks’ pitch. Recommit anOd lead this team for one more run while the front office works around the edges."
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