Taurean Prince has seen his minutes dwindle following Khris Middleton’s return to the Milwaukee Bucks lineup last month. When Middleton was still recovering from an offseason ankle surgery, Prince started in his place for the first two months of the 2024-25 campaign.
The two-time NBA Cup champion started games with Middleton coming off the bench. However, since playing only nine minutes against the Boston Celtics last December due to an illness, Prince’s minutes dropped to roughly 28 to 22 minutes per night.
“It’s been different what I obviously came into during the beginning of the season, but also didn’t truly expect to start at the beginning of the season either,” Prince told Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“But things happen. I mean, it’s all part of the plan. I knew it coming in what it was. It’s an adjustment minutes-wise, who I’m guarding, trying to stay locked in and stay fired up coming off the bench,” he added.
Milwaukee Bucks see Taurean Prince as an important player on the squad
Despite the lessened minutes, Taurean Prince remains an important member of the Milwaukee Bucks. After the 120-112 win over the Indiana Pacers last Tuesday, head coach Doc Rivers praised the 30-year-old swingman for hitting the clutch three-pointer to tie the game with 6:27 left.
“We don’t run many plays for him. We don’t run many catch-and-shoots for him. We run ‘em more for AJ (Green) and GT (Gary Trent Jr.), but it’s important because his shooting is huge for our team. And when we do put him in the fourth quarters, he’s a big-game, late-game shooter. He’s not scared,” Rivers said about Prince.
“It’s part of the game. It’s part of life, it’s part of being on a team. If you want to worry about yourself, you should probably play an individual sport. In a team sport, you gotta constantly think about what’s best for the organization and put the team over yourself,” Prince continued.
