Heading into the preseason, the fifth starting spot for the Los Angeles Lakers was a bit of a question mark with several candidates, although it would ultimately boil down to Taurean Prince and Jarred Vanderbilt.
In the final preseason game, Prince would be slotted into the starting lineup due to Vanderbilt’s heel injury. It would then be announced that Prince would start on Opening Night, which seemed deserving due to his strong preseason play, although head coach Darvin Ham called it ‘circumstantial.’
Vanderbilt still remains day-to-day with his injury, but it seems that Prince will hold down that spot until he’s able to get back healthy. Prince impressed in his Lakers regular season debut, dropping 18 points with four 3-pointers.
Despite losing to the Denver Nuggets, Anthony Davis spoke highly of Prince and his ability to space the floor for the team, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Floor spacing,” Davis said when asked what Prince provides. “He can guard on the other end, he shot the ball well tonight, was getting to the paint. When he’s on the floor, teams can’t really help off him. He’ll make the shot. So that’s been good to have a guy like that who can give it to you on both ends of the floor. He played really well tonight.”
Coming off of shooting 38% from 3 last season, Prince was clearly going to bring much-needed shooting to the table to help provide spacing for Davis and LeBron James. It seems that when the Lakers sign or acquire shooters, it doesn’t pan out, but Prince has maintained his high level of shooting thus far.
Granted it has only been one regular season game, but Prince is clearly aware of his role and is showing the kind of shooter he can be and help space out the floor. Paired alongside D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves, it makes it hard to double either James or Davis, which is a massive help for the two stars.
The issue the past few seasons has been shooting and Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka addressed that this offseason. He was able to get Prince on a one-year, $4.5 million contract, which is a steal for what he is able to do on both sides of the floor. Whether he ultimately starts or comes off the bench this year, he will certainly be a key piece for this team moving forward.
Prince says his role with L.A. is no different than with past teams
The NBA has become a wing-centric league with the most sought-after skillset being 3-and-D wings. Prince has bounced around a couple of teams throughout his career but said his role hasn’t changed now that he’s on the Lakers and in the starting lineup.
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