CLEVELAND - On Tuesday, the Milwaukee Bucks made a trade with the Phoenix Suns, sending Greg Monroe and a pair of protected draft picks to Phoenix in exchange for Suns point guard Eric Bledsoe.

Following the official announcement of the deal, Bucks general manager Jon Horst sat down with the Journal Sentinel's Matt Velazquez at Quicken Loans Arena to discuss the trade and what it means for the Bucks.

Why was this the right deal and why was this the right time?

“I think this was the right deal because we were able to add someone that’s dynamic, another dynamic player that can score the ball, that can play-make for others, that has defensive toughness, athleticism and strength. And we were able to do that without effectively giving up one of the pieces of our core, as we’ve talked about publicly. Also, the Bucks DNA thing we’ve talked about is real. He is a high-character guy, highly talented, he has positional versatility, he can play on the ball and off the ball and he’s got great toughness.”

With the way things ended for Bledsoe in Phoenix, is that something that bothered you or gave you any pause?

“No, because with everything we do we do our due diligence. In surveying the league and getting that information, to a person everyone thinks very highly of Eric. I think in this business sometimes the business aspect of it takes over. … I think he was in a tough situation. We had a franchise that was trying to go in one direction, a player that wanted to be competitive in a different direction and those two things pulled at each other and it kind of resulted in what we all saw. That was of very little consideration for us, really all through this.”

Does Bledsoe fit more than Monroe in the way the modern NBA looks and feels and in a way that makes the Bucks a more competitive teamin the modern NBA?

“I don’t buy into that. Greg Monroe’s a really good player. Greg was really productive for us on the floor, he’s a great person off the floor. He helped us have a lot of success here and we’re thankful for him and the things that he did for us in helping a young team grow. I think players like Greg Monroe have a role in this NBA without a doubt. So I don’t really buy into that. I do think Eric fits into a style of play that maybe we want to try to be a little bit quicker, up-tempo, more aggressive defensively and offensively and I think he can help us do that. I don’t think Greg is a dying breed or anything like that.”

How long have you and the franchise been interested in Bledsoe? It seems like the Bucks have been tied to him in rumors for years.

“We’re interested in all the players that are dynamic and have toughness and athleticism, speed and quickness, high character and Eric is one of the guys we identified that for, you’re right, a number of years. He’s a guy that we’ve looked at, talked about, targeted amongst others and we were able to get a deal that makes sense for us.”

During the early part of this season, did it reach a point where you said, ‘We need to do something to help Giannis (Antetokounmpo), to help the team and offense become more dynamic?’

“I don’t think that that’s something that’s just been unearthed in the early parts of the season. That would make it sound like it’s a reactive move and I don’t plan to do anything that’s reactive. We don’t want to be an organization that’s reactive. This is part of our strategic planning and our process and all the things that we’ve talked about in having a process of turning over every stone, looking at all kinds of options and then drilling into the type of options we reveal in the way we want to do it. For us it’s all about adding a player who is dynamic, fits our core and what we’re built around without taking away a piece of our core. That was the key piece for us.”

How does this affect the team going forward now with one option taken away from the frontcourt? How do you handle that center position going forward?

“The same way that we handled approaching and getting Eric Bledsoe. We’re turning over every stone, we’re going to look at every option. We increased a little bit of financial flexibility this year in the deal, which will allow us to kind of be more active in discussions and addressing things. But John (Henson) has been playing at a really high level, Thon (Maker) was very productive last year and is playing well this year. We don’t mind giving D.J. (Wilson) some minutes. Joel Bolomboy is a guy that we’re intrigued by and we’re going to look for opportunities for him. We’ll consider that, we’ll look for that, but in the short term we’re fine as is. We’re not going to rush into anything.”

You mentioned the short-term flexibility this deal gives you, but what about your long-term flexibility and your goals going forward?

“That’s a piece that we have to kind of figure out. We understood what we did when we did this deal in taking on money next year. I’ve talked about flexibility a lot of times, but flexibility is not just cap space or space relative to the tax. Flexibility is also in adding contracts and assets. One of the things that we looked at, beyond the talent aspect of it and the roster fit, was just the fact that we were able to take an expiring contract — and a really productive player, like I’ve talked about how good (Monroe) was for us on an expiring deal — we feel like we’ve gotten a chance to get another productive player on a two-year deal. We’ve been able to carry over the production of the money from Greg’s contract to Eric’s, so I think that represents flexibility in itself.”

With Eric set to join the team, there’s a chemistry aspect to this. Guys in the locker room liked Greg and enjoyed him as a teammate and a person and as a member of their family. How do you think that impacts the chemistry going forward as the team is introduced to a new player who they’ll need to integrate?

“I think they’re all professionals. We have a group of high-character people that are really smart, really professional. It’s part of the business and they understand that. These guys are used to transition and used to adjusting on the fly. Our group is not going to miss a beat with this. I think they’ll welcome Eric with open arms and hopefully they’ll fit in great. And we hope that Greg does the same where he goes next.”

Does it help that you have a guy in Mirza Teletovic who played with Bledsoe in Phoenix and knows him?

“It definitely doesn’t hurt to have that familiarity. Mirza’s the guy that played with him most recently, I don’t know off-hand, I don’t think anyone else on our roster has played with him, but these guys all know each other in basketball circles. I was talking with Khris (Middleton) today and Khris has spent time with Eric. These guys know each other, so there’s already a familiarity there.”

What was it like going through your first trade as the GM of the Bucks?

“It’s been great. We were pretty active in my years with John (Hammond) here and so the process of the trade and the execution and all those things are second nature to me. Calling the shot and making the decision on this and kind of running the process where we had ownership and coach (Jason) Kidd and myself all aligning on making this decision has been a great experience and an exciting experience. Now we’ll see how it all works out.”