Getty Jeff Teague finds a new home.
Jeff Teague’s tenure with the Boston Celtics didn’t last all that long. His stint with the Orlando Magic? Even shorter. Now, the former All-Star is hopeful that a reunion with his former head coach will help him increase his staying power.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the free-agent guard is signing with the Milwaukee Bucks as the owners of the third-best record in the Eastern Conference add a veteran piece to their backcourt behind starting point guard Jrue Holiday.
Teague’s addition comes at a fitting time, as Milwaukee recently unloaded backup point guard D.J. Augustin in a trade to acquire P.J. Tucker in a trade with the Houston Rockets.
The move reunites Teague with coach Mike Budenholzer, who the 32-year-old played under during his most prolific seasons in Atlanta, including his lone All-Star campaign back in 2015. In total, Teague and Budenholzer spent three seasons together with the Hawks. In those seasons, Teague averaged a highly-respectable 16 points, 6.5 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game.
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Teague’s 3rd Team in Less Than a Week
In what has been a whirlwind handful of days for the guard, Teague will now join his third team in the span of less than a week. Originally, Teague was dealt from the Celtics to the Orlando Magic alongside two second-round picks, in exchange for sharpshooter Evan Fournier.
However, with the Magic in full-blown rebuild mode following the trade of Fournier, as well as perceived franchise cornerstones Nikola Vucevic and (to a lesser degree) Aaron Gordon, it was fairly evident from the jump an aging talent such as Teague wouldn’t fit into the team’s long-term vision.
In return, Teague was alerted at the time of the deal that he would not need to report to the team. Two days following the trade, the team opted to waive the Indiana native.
Teague Never Quite Panned Out in Boston
Signed this offseason in hopes of helping counteract the absence of Kemba Walker in the early parts of the year, the Teague-Celtics marriage never quite panned out. While not the All-Star caliber player that he once was during his first stint with the Hawks, Boston was hopeful Teague could add a solid offensive punch off the bench.
Entering the season, Teague was one of only seven players in the NBA to average at least 10.0 points and 5.0 assists in each of the prior eight seasons (minimum 40 games played, via the team’s official website). However, his production in 2020-21 with the Celtics fell well short of that.
Teague averaged just 6.9 points and 2.1 assists in 34 games this season for the Celtics. Starting 593 games over his previous 11 seasons, the guard notched just five starts under his belt during his stint in Boston. In Teague’s defense, he did appear to be picking up up his play prior to being dealt. Over his final 11 games with the Celtics, Teague averaged 9.6 points and 2.5 assists per game. Over that span, he scored double-digit points on five occasions. In comparison, he scored 10-plus points only four times over his first 23 games of the season.