The Milwaukee Bucks hired Jon Horst in 2017 in a move considered a surprise around the NBA. Justin Zanik had been widely expected to run Milwaukee's front office but Wes Edens was "staunchly opposed" to Jamie Dinan and Marc Lasry wanting to hire Zanik.

The Bucks liked Horst and hiring him would also allow the franchise to save money.

“There wasn’t much of negotiation in hiring Horst,’’ a source familiar with the GM search said. “It was pretty much a ‘Take it or leave it’ offer.’’

Horst was elated at suddenly becoming general manager, but his low salary level upset many front office executives and their agents.

Horst agreed to an annual salary of $500,000.

“That was insulting to every GM in our league,’’ an NBA executive said earlier this week. “It was the lowest salary for a GM in our league – by far. The next lowest (GM) was paid $1 million.’’

According to multiple sources, the likes of R.C. Buford, Daryl Morey, Bob Myers, Sam Presti, Danny Ainge and Donnie Nelson are paid between $8 million and $10 million per season.

Horst is seeking a raise via a contract extension with just one season left on his original three-year deal. The owners of the Bucks are open to working out a new deal.

“If you asked me what would be a fair deal for him (Horst), I’d say around $3 million (a year),’’ an NBA executive said. “That’s about the average salary for a GM and I think he’s regarded as an average GM.

“But knowing those guys (the owners) I don’t think he’s going to get even that.’’

Giannis Antetokounmpo cited team chemistry when saying that he wanted the Milwaukee Bucks' front office to re-sign the team's free agents this summer.

"I want everyone back. Great fricking team -- unselfish players that play basketball the right way. They're winners. We had a great atmosphere. We didn't have no -- I want to be polite. I want to say the A-word -- we didn't have no buttheads. Obviously, I want everyone back. I am going to let my teammates know that," said Antetokounmpo.

Three starters in Malcolm Brogdon, Brook Lopez, and Khris Middleton will be either restricted or unrestricted free agents this summer. Nikola Mirotic is also unrestricted, while George Hill's deal is only partially guaranteed.

Antetokounmpo added that he wants the Bucks to position themselves as a title contender for several years to come. 

"We're gonna put ourselves in a place to be a championship contending team for many more years to come. And there's not a lot of teams that can say that in the league -- there's one, two, three, four teams that can say that -- but we're gonna put ourselves in that situation for many more years to come."

Khris Middleton said that the Milwaukee Bucks' game 6 loss to the Toronto Raptors that ended their season would be a learning experience for the team. 

"Experience. You have to go through some things to get to where you want to go. So hopefully we learn from this and move on," said Middleton.

Middleton then reflected on the positive aspects of their season.

"I think we had a great year. Sixty wins, one of the best teams in NBA history. Got past the first round, which we struggled with for a long time. Just fell short of our goals," added Middleton.

A Milwaukee Bucks run to the NBA Finals next season could "tip the scales" in Giannis Antetokounmpo's decision to re-sign with the team, according to a source that spoke to Malika Andrews.

Antetokounmpo qualified for the five-year, $247.3 million supermax extension this week. He will be eligible to sign the deal next summer.

That timeline could affect how the Bucks approach this offseason with several key free agents on their roster.

Khris Middleton will likely decline his player option, making him an unrestricted free agent. Brook Lopez and Nikola Mirotic are unrestricted free agents, while Malcolm Brogdon is a restricted free agent. 

The Bucks are likely to bring Middleton back next season, according to Andrews, though also signing Brogdon may put the team in the luxury tax.

Re-signing Lopez is also said to be a priority. 

Milwaukee Bucks assistant Taylor Jenkins interviewed for the Memphis Grizzlies' head coaching vacancy.

Jenkins, who joined Mike Budenholzer's staff last June, has previously coached the Spurs' G League team.

The Grizzlies have also been in contact with Jarron Collins, Adrian Griffin, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Alex Jensen, Igor Kokoskov and Nate Tibbetts during their coaching search. 

Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux) and Ben Golliver of the Washington Post (@BenGolliver) break down both Conference Finals and the NBA Draft lottery.

The two discuss how Bucks/Raptors looks right now, takeaways from Warriors/Trail Blazers, Ben’s experience in the room for the lottery and much more.

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Giannis Antetokounmpo will pay for the construction of an indoor basketball court outside of Athens where at least 100 people died in a fire last year.

The fire destroyed over a thousand homes in the seaside resort of Mati.

"Antetokounmpo, the well-known Giannis Antetokounmpo, has made a donation at the site to build an indoor court -- I'm announcing this for the first time. It will be built with a modern method using a steel building frame so it can be ready by the end of the summer," said mayor Vangelis Bournous.

Antetokounmpo has previously taken part in campaigns to promote tourism and recycling in Greece.

Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals was the NBA's smallest TV audience for that round of the playoffs in a dozen years.

The game drew 4.39 million viewers on TNT, down 48 percent from Cavaliers-Celtics last season, which aired after the NBA Draft Lottery. 

The most recent least-watched game in the Conference Finals was Jazz-Spurs Game 5 in 2007 at 3.97 million viewers.

Game 3 of Raptors-Bucks had a 4.5 overnight rating. It also aired 90 minutes earlier than usual to avoid competing against the entirety of HBO's Game of Thrones, which was watched by 18.4 million people including streaming.

Khris Middleton praised the Milwaukee Bucks "Bench Mob" following their 125-103 win over the Toronto Raptors in game 2. 

The Bucks bench outscored the Raptors bench 54-39 in the game.

"They can compete against other teams' starters," said Middleton of the "Bench Mob."

Nick Nurse added that the Bucks bench changed the game.

"I thought their bench guys came in and really ... when we kind of clawed back from the bad start, I think we got to 14-9 right away, then those guys came in and took off," said Nurse. 

Ersan Ilyasova, a member of the "Bench Mob," said the unit tries to set the tone each game like the starting 5.

"Everybody wants to look at the bench. We have a deep bench, and the whole season we rely on each other. Obviously, in this game, we kind of learned a lesson from Game 1 and everybody just from the gates was ready, and especially the bench. I think the starting five set the tone, and we have to just do the same thing."

Giannis Antetokounmpo said that he's aware of what the Milwaukee Bucks could accomplish this season following their 125-103 win over the Toronto Raptors in game 2.

“I really don’t see what people say about this team, but they’re going to say, ‘We have a chance. We’re playing well. This is a special group that we have right here and we realize that," said Antetokounmpo.

Malcolm Brogdon stated that even some of his teammates don't realize how good the team is.

“We’ve got a really good team this year. It’s definitely special. Honestly, I don’t think all of us on the team realize how special this is for us right now, how good we are. But I think we’ll realize it after it’s all said and done,” said Brogdon.

Eric Bledsoe credited Mike Budenholzer for changing the culture of the team.

“The biggest thing was Bud coming in, giving everybody confidence...we’ve got a great group of guys who want to see people, other people do good, and not just themselves. And that’s very rare in this league."