Last summer, one of the Los Angeles Lakers’ free agent signings was Taurean Prince, a 6-foot-6 forward who had played seven seasons in the NBA with four teams. He was regarded as a 3-and-D player, which was something the Lakers lacked during the previous couple of seasons.
Prince began the regular season in then-head coach Darvin Ham’s starting lineup, which led some to criticize Ham, especially when he later settled on Rui Hachimura for that starting small forward spot. Prince was lackluster defensively and didn’t help much on the boards, but he contributed in an important area: 3-point shooting.
Before the season started, he said he wanted to shoot 40% from 3-point range for the season. He struggled in November, but Ham stuck with him and played him major minutes during the first few months of the season, which led to more criticism.
However, Prince came on strong starting in December, and he ended the regular season at 39.6% from downtown.
He was moved to the bench in February in favor of Hachimura, and it seems as if that was the move that got the Lakers going. It also may have helped Prince improve his shooting efficiency.
As a starter this season, he made 43.1% of his field-goal attempts and 38.4% of his 3-point attempts. But as a reserve, he ended up at 46.9% overall and 42.9% from downtown.
Prince will be a free agent this summer. While many Lakers fans may not want him back, he can continue to help a Lakers team that struggled mightily from 3-point land early in the season, only to get hot afterward.