Bucks’ latest free agent signing $900 Million Super-Star Coach Due To…
Darvin Ham has gotten his guy once again.
The Milwaukee Bucks have agreed to sign to sign veteran forward Taurean Prince, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Wednesday. Prince now returns to the Eastern Conference (where he began his NBA career with the Atlanta Hawks) after spending last season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The news led to jokes on social media about Bucks assistant coach Darvin Ham, who was the head coach of the Lakers for the last two seasons. Ham is now reunited with Prince, a known favorite of his.
Take a look at some of the jokes about the reunion.
Under Ham in Los Angeles last year, Prince appeared in 78 games and made 49 total starts. That was far longer of a leash than most believed that Prince deserved, especially since he only produced 8.9 points and 2.9 rebounds per game on the season (albeit on 39.6 percent from three). Prince, 30, earned more minutes than younger forward options like Rui Hachimura and Max Christie and even cut into the playing time of Austin Reaves some. That led to plenty of jokes all year about Ham’s inexplicable fondness for Prince.
The two are now reunited again in Milwaukee, so the punchlines can continue. While Ham is just a lieutenant to head coach Doc Rivers these days, he may reportedly be angling for Rivers’ job and now has his favorite player around again to potentially help him pull it off.
One of Lakers’ fans frustrations with Darvin Ham last season was how much he leaned into Taurean Prince (the Lakers were getting outscored by 2.7 points per 100 possessions when Prince was on the floor, but Ham stuck with him as a starter for 49 games and played him bigger minutes). Ham is now out and headed back to Milwaukee as an assistant on Doc Rivers’ staff.
Prince is coming with him — the veteran forward has agreed to a contract with the Bucks, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Milwaukee had a quiet offseason up to this point but reached a couple of deals in the last 24 hours, the other with veteran wing Delon Wright, who spent last season in Miami.
Both of these are veteran minimum deals, because that’s what Milwaukee can offer.
While Lakers fans are laughing about Prince, this is actually a great signing for the Bucks — at the minimum and in a 20ish minutes a night role off the bench, Prince is a fantastic pickup. He averaged 8.9 points a game last season for the Lakers and shot 39.6% from 3 (one of the reasons Ham stuck with him, Los Angeles needed the floor spacing).
Wright is the same thing. He is a solid rotational combo guard who shot 36.8% from 3 last season and is a quality defender known for his ability to deflect passes. Where Wright fits in the rotation remains to be seen, but he could see clutch minutes in games against elite guards from other teams — him on the ball with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez protecting the paint could work well.
Milwaukee hasn’t been making big splashes, but the bet is that year two of the Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard partnership—with just one experienced coach from the start and (hopefully) good health—can vault them back into the upper echelon of the East. To be there, solid role players are required, and the combo of Prince and Wright can be that.
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Milwaukee Bucks Work Out Former Wisconsin Badgers Star and NBA 1st Round Pick…
The Milwaukee Bucks are working on improving their roster for the 2024-25 NBA season. Earlier today, it was announced that the team had agreed to a one-year veteran minimum contract with former Los Angeles Lakers forward Taurean Prince. This recent signing helps improve Milwaukee’s bench, as Prince averaged 8.9 points and 2.9 rebounds while shooting 39% from three off of Darvin Ham’s bench.
Former Badgers forward Sam Dekker is well-known to Wisconsin-based basketball fans. A star at Sheboygan Lutheran High School, he was one of the most popular in-state recruits but committed to Wisconsin as a junior.
While with the Badgers, Dekker played a huge role on the teams that appeared in back-to-back Final Fours. He was drafted by the Houston Rockets with the 18th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.
After four seasons in the NBA spent with the Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Washington Wizards, Dekker spent two seasons overseas playing in Russia and Turkey. He then signed with the Toronto Raptors in 2021, but only appeared in one game and was cut before the season ended.