Milwaukee Bucks

Bucks sign former first-round pick Young to training camp deal

Published Sep. 6, 2017 8:09 p.m. ET

The Milwaukee Bucks signed former Celtics guard James Young to a training camp contract on Wednesday.

Young was drafted 17th overall by Boston in 2014, the same year that the Bucks owned the second pick and selected Jabari Parker.

Now 22 years old, Young played in 31 games as a rookie for the Celtics in 2014-15. He averaged 3.4 points, 1.4 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 10.7 minutes per game, all career highs.

The next two seasons, Young played in 58 games and tallied just 97 points (1.7 per game). He scored in double digits three times last year for the Celtics, all coming in wins.

The statistics may not jump out on paper, but Young showed incredible potential during his lone season at Kentucky in 2013-14. He finished second on the Wildcats in scoring (14.3 points per game), and his 20 points in the national championship led Kentucky in an otherwise crushing 60-54 loss to Shabazz Napier and the Connecticut Huskies.

Close your eyes, Badgers fans: Young also led the Wildcats with 17 points in their defeat of Wisconsin in the 2014 national semifinals.