On Wednesday afternoon, the Milwaukee Bucks announced that they have brought in free agent swingman James Young on a training camp contract.
With some speculation as to how they would address their lone roster spot heading into the regular season, the Milwaukee Bucks have added a notable name to their roster mere weeks out from the start of training camp.
Late Wednesday afternoon, the Bucks announced that they have signed fourth-year swingman James Young to a training camp deal. As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Matt Velazquez reported, Young was one of many participants who the Bucks brought in for a free agent mini-camp that the team held last week.
Taken 16th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2014 NBA Draft, Young’s professional career hasn’t gone according to plan by any stretch of imagination after showing plenty of promise in his lone season at the University of Kentucky nearly four years ago.
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Over his three seasons with the Celtics, Young has averaged 2.3 points on 36.7 percent shooting from the field and 27.6 percent shooting from three in 89 total appearances.
While the Bucks do have an open roster spot available in light of their decision to waive Spencer Hawes (and subsequently stretching the final year of his contract), it’s far from guaranteed that Young occupies that spot.
By bringing him on a training camp deal, there’s a more likely chance that Young will head to the Fox Valley and suit up for the Wisconsin Herd once training camp comes to a close.
Playing on the G League level is something Young has some experience in as he logged time with the Celtics’ affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, during his time with the team.
In 31 total appearances across the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, Young averaged 18.7 points on 44.1 percent shooting from the field and 40.6 percent shooting from deep, along with 5.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists.
Of course, we shouldn’t rule out the possibility of Young locking down the 15th and final roster spot if he does show out in training camp and preseason.
But given the couple of veteran names that have been linked to the Bucks in recent weeks and nearly everyone’s desire for the return of Jason Terry, it still feels like the Bucks will turn to a player in that vein for their final roster spot.
Regardless, at 22 years old, Young does possess some untapped potential, no matter how wayward his NBA career has gone up until this point. Now whether the present prospects of dealing with an uncertain playing future after his release from the Celtics will serve as a wake up call stands as the big question for Young at this point.
Whether news that the Bucks will look to add more names from their mini-camp emerges remains to be seen, but no matter what, we’ll have it all covered for you.