The Los Angeles Lakers have signed veteran forward Taurean Prince to a one-year contract that is reported to be for the team’s biannual exception worth $4.5 million. He will be wearing No. 12 and reuniting with Lakers coach Darvin Ham, who was an assistant on the Atlanta Hawks when Prince began his career.
A first round pick back in 2016, Prince has remained a reliable 3-and-D wing since he stepped foot in the NBA. He had his best success with Hawks, where he worked his way into the starting lineup and helped Atlanta to the playoffs as a rookie before starting all 82 games and averaging a career-high 14.1 points in his second season.
Prince has since bounced around to a couple of different teams but spent the last two seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves. While his individual numbers saw a bit of a decline due to lesser minutes, he remained extremely efficient when on the court and the Lakers surely believe that will continue in purple and gold.
Last season with the Timberwolves, Prince averaged 9.1 points and 2.4 rebounds while shooting a career-best 46.7% from the field. He also shot 38.1% from 3-point range and is a career 37.2% shooter from deep.
Listed at 6-foot-7 and 218 pounds, Prince is a strong, physical forward who has the ability to guard multiple positions and stretch the floor on offense. On a team with a multiple creators and players who draw attention from the defense, Prince will be in prime position to knock down open shots for the Lakers next season.
He will join a deep and extremely promising Lakers front court that includes Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt, Cam Reddish and, of course, LeBron James.
The Lakers’ front office was determined to add shooting and big wing defenders this offseason in order to help the team improve on its run to the Western Conference Finals last season and potentially make a run all the way to the NBA Championship.
A proven, reliable veteran, Prince is exactly the type of player the Lakers needed and he will look to prove his worth next season.
Lakers hiring DeMarre Carroll as assistant coach on Darvin Ham’s staff
Prince began his NBA career with the Hawks where Ham was an assistant and another wing who played under Ham and had great success in Atlanta was DeMarre Carroll. And now Carroll is set to re-join Ham as well in a different position.
The Lakers lost a handful of assistants to the Phoenix Suns this offseason and at least one replacement is known as they have hired Carroll as an assistant coach under Ham. Carroll just recently began his coaching journey spending last season as an assistant under Mike Budenholzer with the Milwaukee Bucks.
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