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After going undrafted in Thursday night’s NBA Draft, former Texas Longhorns standouts Isaiah Taylor and Prince Ibeh reportedly found immediate landing spots, with Taylor headed to Houston and Ibeh headed to Milwaukee.
Texas undrafted guard Isaiah Taylor has agreed to a partially guaranteed deal with the Houston Rockets, league sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 24, 2016
Prince Ibeh will play summer league with the Bucks, according to his former AAU coach.
— CJ Moore (@CJMooreBR) June 24, 2016
Taylor inking what’s reportedly a partially-guaranteed three-year deal with the Rockets makes complete sense for both sides. For Taylor, he’s returning to where he played his high school basketball for The Village School, entering a situation that could certainly benefit from some point guard depth. And for Houston, adding Taylor is tremendously low risk avenue to travel in hopes of addressing the point guard rotation. If Taylor can prove his value with reserve-level talent in Summer League action, as well as display an improved jumper, it wouldn’t be hard to envision this working out for both sides.
Ibeh, on the other hand, looks like he may have some additional work to do to secure an NBA roster spot. The Bucks reportedly adding Ibeh to their Summer League roster doesn’t make much sense in regards to the possibility of Ibeh ultimately being added to the roster. Milwaukee has a fair amount of interior depth and Ibeh lacks too many NBA qualities to realistically prove worthy of risking a roster spot for additional depth. But considering talents are often picked up from other Summer League rosters following the Summer League, an impressive showing could result in another franchise taking a chance on the former Longhorns center.
While Taylor seems to be in a more secure position with Houston with a better long-term opportunity, it’s quite likely both, Taylor and Ibeh, begin their professional careers in the D-League.
As a junior, Taylor averaged 15 points and 5.0 assists per game, while Ibeh averaged 4.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks en route to a Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year award.