The strongest point of the 2024–25 Milwaukee Bucks was, without a doubt, their three-point shooting, leading the league in percentage at 37.8%. Yet with names like Damian Lillard, Gary Trent Jr., and Brook Lopez on the team, you wouldn’t expect journeyman wing Taurean Prince to finish third in the league in three-point percentage at 43.9%. After being signed back on a 1+1 deal in the offseason, Prince finds his way onto our rankings as the 10th most important Milwaukee Buck.
Prince is entering his
10th year in the league, and while he isn’t the starting-level player he was during his days with the Atlanta Hawks, he still can bring value to this Bucks team. Over his 10 seasons, he’s played for six teams, and this will only be the third time in his career that he will play with the same team for more than one season. He played three years with the Hawks (2016–18) and two with the Minnesota Timberwolves (2021–22). Other than that, he’s had stops with the Brooklyn Nets (2019), Cleveland Cavaliers (2020), and the Los Angeles Lakers (2023).
Obviously, Prince is very limited in terms of what he can do on the offensive side of the ball, being relegated to catch-and-shoot three-point shooting, particularly from the corner. Don’t expect him to be picking up a lot of shots off the dribble, with 98.6% of Prince’s three pointers being assisted, and 173 of his 335 attempts (51.6%) from the corner (shot 45.1% on those). All year, Prince only *attempted* 154 shots in the paint and 25 shots from the midrange out of 514 total shots he had all season.
On the defensive side of the ball, there is still some value, but only in the right situations. While he was on the floor a lot and was tasked with guarding some of the better wings, he still had the second-worst defensive rating on the Bucks at 114.5 (0.1 ahead of Lillard, who was at 114.6). One of my biggest frustrations with the starting lineup during the playoffs was Doc Rivers’ insistence on playing Prince at shooting guard, where his lack of speed and lateral movement got him killed against Indiana’s faster guards like Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin. Prince is better utilized as a small forward or a small-ball power forward, where he can guard wings and smaller fours. At 6’6” and 218 pounds, he’s got that prototypical size you want in a backup three-and-D wing.
As for where Prince fits into the 2025 Bucks puzzle, it’s plain and simple. Regardless of who the Bucks opt to start at small forward, whether it be Kyle Kuzma, Gary Trent Jr., or AJ Green, Prince will be a solid bench piece for the Bucks. Being able to come in and provide defense and spacing for the bench unit at about 12–16 minutes per game is precisely what his role should be. We all know how it went with him starting, and while the defense and three-point shooting were good, this Bucks team can’t afford to have non-creators in the starting lineup with Lillard gone.
Where do you think Prince fits into the Bucks’ rotation for this season? Add your thoughts in the comments and vote below for who you believe is Milwaukee’s ninth most imporant player. Polls close at 10 a.m. (Central) tomorrow.
