The Milwaukee Bucks intend to sign forward Taurean Prince to a one-year contract, per Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Prince will arrive from the Los Angeles Lakers, where he served as a serviceable wing defender and occasional contributor on offense in an overall underrated role.
With the addition of Prince, it seems unlikely that the Bucks will re-sign veteran forward Jae Crowder, an unrestricted free agent.
“Prince averaged 8.9 points and 2.9 rebounds while shooting 39.6 percent from 3-point land in 78 games for the Lakers last season,” Charania wrote. “He’s now expected to play a strong role in the Bucks frontcourt.”
Milwaukee could definitely use an additional player like Prince who has been through both regular-season and playoff battles. Prince can back up the small forward spot as well as at the “four” behind Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Bucks have lost in the first round of the playoffs in each of the past two seasons after winning the NBA championship three years ago.
Meanwhile, the Lakers have failed to get out of the first round in two of the past three years and are looking to land players around the “edges” of the roster, as we relayed here. Losing Prince isn’t ideal, but LA likely is hoping for an upgrade.
As an aside, the Lakers reportedly have an interest in trading for Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant and several others. So the offseason is far from history, especially if LeBron James‘ new contract can be tweaked.
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