Earl Boykins signed a contract with the Bucks on Friday to be part of the team's point guard rotation along with Brandon Jennings and Keyon Dooling.

Boykins admitted that things are much brighter in Milwaukee than they were in 2007 during his first stint with the team.

"The thing that struck me most was the maturity of the team as a whole," Boykins said. "It's a young team, and it's rare in the NBA that young guys really put winning first.

"From playing against them, I knew even if they lost a game, they were playing hard enough to win. And I wanted to be part of a team with a legitimate chance to make a deep run in the playoffs."

Jennings figures to handle a majority of the minutes at point guard, but Boykins will be ready whenever he's called upon.

"My role is to be ready when I'm needed," he said. "I've had this role my entire NBA career so it's nothing new. Throughout the course of the year, everybody is going to have an opportunity to play and produce and help the team win. It's how you approach it.

"If you remain professional, when your opportunity comes, you'll take advantage of it."