According to NBA insider Jovan Buha of The Athletic, head coach Darvin Ham told the Los Angeles Lakers’ front office to not trade small forward Taurean Prince.
The Lakers’ brass thought about moving Prince at the NBA trade deadline, but Ham was one of the vocal supporters of retaining the veteran due to their rapport.
Ham and Prince were on the Atlanta Hawks together from 2016-17 to 2017-18.
“With limited interest in their players with multiple years left on their contracts, one option the Lakers weighed was trading Taurean Prince, who is making $4.5 million on an expiring contract,” Buha wrote. “However, head coach Darvin Ham was one of the vocal supporters of retaining Prince, according to team sources.”
The Lakers made no moves at the NBA trade deadline. They came close to acquiring Dejounte Murray from the Atlanta Hawks, but a deal didn’t happen after LAL refused to include Austin Reaves.
Prince, 29, is averaging 9.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.5 blocks for the Lakers this season while shooting 43.6% from the floor, 38.6% from 3 and 73.5% from the free-throw line. He’s making $4.5 million.
Ham benched Prince on February 3 against the New York Knicks, a move many LAL fans have been asking for. The Lakers started D’Angelo Russell, Reaves, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James and Anthony Davis and beat the Knicks at Madison Square Garden by a final score of 113-105.
Prince has played better since coming off the bench. He’s averaging 10.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.5 steals and 0.5 blocks while shooting 56.0% from the field, 40.0% from beyond the arc and 70.0% from the foul line.
The Lakers are 28-26 on the season. They are in ninth place in the Western Conference standings. If the season ended today, LAL would be in the play-in tournament for the second straight year despite having LeBron and Davis, two of the top players in the NBA.
The Lakers signed Spencer Dinwiddie after the Colorado product was waived by the Toronto Raptors. The Brooklyn Nets traded Dinwiddie to the Raptors.
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