MILWAUKEE -- With the trade of franchise superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat not yet official, Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst declined to talk specifics -- but repeatedly emphasized "a theme of building" after the team drafted guard Brayden Burries at No. 10 and forward Nate Ament at No. 13.
"We're building," Horst said at the Bucks' practice facility Tuesday night. "These guys are important to it.
"We're just really excited to continue to build and add on piece and piece and create an identity, a style of play, a roster full of character and versatility and size. Got a lot of work ahead of us, but it's a good start."
Milwaukee agreed to trade Antetokounmpo to Miami late Monday night for Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, three first-round picks, which included the No. 13 selection on Tuesday, one pick swap and one second-round pick, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania. The deal cannot become official until July 6.
When asked to sum up his last 24 hours, Horst simply responded: "busy."
Milwaukee negotiated with two finalists in recent weeks, the Heat and Boston Celtics, before deciding on Miami's trade package featuring heavy draft picks and young players, because of the flexibility it gave the Bucks in building their team for the future.
Burries and Ament are the first two lottery picks of Horst's tenure as general manager, which began in 2017, and Milwaukee's highest draft selections since 2016 (Thon Maker at No. 10).
"It's busy, fun, stressful, but it's no different. This is the best time of year," Horst said. "We got a lot of things going on. This is when you always put together a roster and that's what we're doing right now. I thought tonight was a great first step."
Horst said the Bucks targeted Burries -- a 6-foot-4, 215-pound guard who helped lead Arizona to the Final Four -- with the team's first selection because of his size and winning background in what was a deep draft for guards.
"He's been a winner his whole career," Horst said. "We think one of the best two-way guards in the draft."
Ament, a 6-foot-10 forward, will be a project in Milwaukee with a mix of size and perimeter skill after an inconsistent year at Tennessee.
"We were clear. If we had the chance to take Nate with that pick, that's what we were going to do," Horst said. "To acquire those draft rights, that was an unbelievable opportunity for us."
After 13 years with Antetokounmpo on the roster and much of the past decade spent trying to build a championship contender around him, the Bucks began heading in a new direction this week. And Horst added two players he hopes will become building blocks for Milwaukee's future.
"We've talked a lot at [coach] Taylor [Jenkins'] press conference about style of play, identity and who we want to be," Horst said. "The things that we want to do takes processors. People that can think the game, that can attack space and create advantages, that are going to play on both sides of the ball, that are big at their positions.
"That's how you also take advantage of space. That's the vision. This has been a great opportunity for us to have the opportunity in a lottery for the first time in over a decade, first time in my career to make a lottery pick, much less two. And I think it's a great draft to do it."