The Los Angeles Lakers obviously made significant improvements to their roster at the 2023 NBA trade deadline, adding team players and depth pieces that can do a variety of things to help towards a winning effort. But it’s likely they got even better during the offseason, adding more depth in the form of players like Taurean Prince.
Prince, the 29-year-old veteran out of Baylor, has played for four teams prior to landing with the Lakers. But he has brought with him a quality 3-point shot and a good mentality to every destination. While he has some positional competition in the form of Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt, there is no denying that Prince will get an opportunity to shine this season in L.A.
In his mind, that’s part of what makes the Lakers such a great team this season, as there are so many different options of players that can make an impact. He spoke about the depth and what it can do for the Lakers this year.
“100%. Especially when the roster is as deep as it is,” Prince said. “Anybody’s night can be any given night, so I think that’s the great thing about having a lot of players and being able to throw a variety of lineups out there, you never know who’s night it’ll be.”
Part of having quality depth is having guys like Prince who understand their role and do everything in their power to be consistent on a night-to-night basis. Prince’s role will be to play defense and knock down open shots, so he won’t necessarily have the ball in his hands that often.
He has thrived as an off-ball player throughout his career though and talked about how he learned those skills.
“I watched a lot of the Spurs growing up. That’s where I went to high school,” Prince said. “There was also great coaching by my college coach, Coach Drew. And then same with my coach when I first got into the league, Coach Budenholzer. All those guys, D Ham — he was on that (Bucks) staff as well — helped to teach me the game and apply it as I get older and continue to be as efficient as I possibly can.”
Darvin Ham was part of Prince’s early development as he was an assistant coach on Mike Budenholzer’s staff with the Atlanta Hawks for the first two years of Prince’s career. Now, Ham is getting the chance to coach a more matured and consistent version of the rookie he worked with six years ago.
If Prince can be consistent, know his role and stay ready, there is no doubt that he’ll be a factor for L.A.
Lakers focusing on physicality
Prince went into some of the physicality that the Lakers have shown in the early part of the preseason and discussed how it fits into Ham’s vision of what he wants L.A.’s identity to be.
“100%. I think that physicality translates into anything. Offense, defense, screening and just doing things for other people. Good things will happen.”
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