The Bucks practiced for the first time in Milwaukee on Tuesday afternoon following a weeklong opening to training camp in Irvine, California , and the preseason opener in Detroit on Sunday.
Unfortunately, the team already had to manage an injury to a key player, as starting shooting guard Gary Trent Jr. suffered a hyperextended left elbow in the third quarter of the Bucks loss to the Pistons.
Trent was screened by Pistons big man Jalen Duren in the third quarter and immediately grabbed his left arm and dropped to the court. He was then assisted to the locker room and did not return.
He did not practice Tuesday, but Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said Trent did not need imaging on the elbow.
“He’ll be fine,” Rivers added. “He’ll probably play on Thursday. I can’t guarantee that, but I think so.”
Trent was the team’s top free-agent acquisition , surprisingly signing a one-year, veteran minimum contract after his three-year, $51.8 million deal with Toronto expired following last season. Originally a second-round pick of the Portland Trail Blazers in 2018, Trent was traded to Toronto during the 2020-21 season. In his three-plus seasons with the Raptors, the 25-year-old averaged 16.4 points per game on 38% three-point shooting.
Newly acquired forward Taurean Prince practiced Tuesday after he was screened illegally by Duren just before the Trent injury. Duren shoved an elbow into Prince’s midsection, sending the veteran to the floor briefly. Prince returned to the game and provided a defensive highlight by chasing down a turnover and blocking a Jaden Ivey dunk attempt at the rim.
“Just ill effects from calling illegal screens – there was a lot of that the other night,” Rivers said.
Prince said that he lost his breath briefly on the play.
"I'm feeling good," he said. "I wear padded tights so I just lost my breath. It wasn't really the hit, it was just me losing my breath and trying to catch everything back."
Rivers said the rest of the Bucks who played made it out of the Detroit game healthy.
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo did not play in the preseason opener, which Rivers said was planned. Antetokounmpo has not played in an exhibition opener since the truncated 2020 season.
The forward is expected to suit up against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday at Fiserv Forum and “then we’ll ramp his minutes up,” Rivers said.
On a positive note, all-star Khris Middleton, who is slowly being worked back after offseason surgeries on both ankles , may play in the preseason.
“I do think maybe the last two (games), but there’s no guarantee there,” Rivers said.
The emphasis of the Oct. 1-4 camp dates in California was largely to lay the foundation of a connected team, and Rivers said heading into the Detroit game the team had just started to install its offense.
“It’s slow because without Khris live (five-on-five) we’ve resisted putting in a lot of stuff because I want to put it in with him,” Rivers said. “So, we just kind of worked on what we’ve been working on a lot today.”
Added Prince: "I don't think it's going to be hard to get him in there. Granted, he's been in a lot of drills. He's been in a lot of practices. Very present. Asks his questions. So, with that being said I think it'll be an easy transition for him and us. the only thing he doesn't do is go live right now, but for us it's really just concepts, knowing what we want to do, what we want to get to offensively."
But with just two weeks before the team leaves for its season opener in Philadelphia on Oct. 23, Rivers said the emphasis of these practices is to fully roll out the playbook.
“We’re on schedule,” Rivers said. “We have time. I guess the best way to say it, we want to learn how to play first. And then once we learn how to play, it doesn’t matter what you put in. Then everything’s easy. We’re getting there.”
Bucks sign Terence Davis to camp deal
A league source confirmed the Bucks signed free-agent guard Terence Davis to an Exhibit 10 deal, which gives the team a chance to convert it to a two-way contract before the regular season begins. Davis, 27, ruptured an Achilles tendon on Jan. 4.
HoopsHype, a USA TODAY NETWORK property, reported the Bucks worked out the 6-foot-4 guard in August. Davis was an all-rookie second-team member with Toronto in 2019-20 and played four NBA seasons with the Raptors and Sacramento Kings, shooting 36.6% from behind the three-point line.
Davis was injured playing for the Portland G League team and told HoopsHype in January that he “turned down a good amount of money to play overseas in Greece, in the EuroLeague. I said no, as I want to get back in the NBA, and to stay in you have to play in the G League.”
The Athletic initially reported Davis’ signing.
Wisconsin Herd acquire player rights to Sam Merrill, Liam Robbins
In a couple of small moves, the Wisconsin Herd acquired the returning player rights to center Liam Robbins and guard Sam Merrill. Robbins, a 25-year-old native of Waukesha who played collegiately at Drake, Minnesota and Vanderbilt, is on the Bucks training camp roster. The move allows the Herd to sign Robbins should he be waived.
The 7-foot Robbins was the 2022-23 Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year but went undrafted after his season ended prematurely with a leg fracture. Robbins played for the New Orleans Pelicans G League affiliate in 2023 before suffering a season-ending injury there.
Robbins played nine minutes for the Bucks against the Pistons on Sunday and blocked three shots.
The Herd also received the returning player rights to Merrill, a Cleveland Cavaliers guard who was part of the 2020-21 championship Bucks team. Merrill was initially drafted by New Orleans and came to Milwaukee along with Jrue Holiday. Merrill was also part of NBA history on Dec. 29, 2020, when he hit the Bucks' record 27th three-pointer of the night at Miami. The Bucks finished with 29 on the night.
The Bucks traded Merrill to Memphis the following offseason for Grayson Allen. Merrill is unlikely to play in the G League this season, as he signed a two-year contract with the Cavaliers and shot 40% from behind the three-point line for the Eastern Conference semifinalists last season.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Doc Rivers updates Giannis, Khris Middleton and Gary Trent Jr.'s preseason availability
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