Lakers Rumors: Taurean Prince a ‘Serious’ Option to Start with LeBron, Anthony Davis

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With NBA training camps just having opened up, many teams have yet to officially name a starting lineup, including the Los Angeles Lakers.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis are definitely starters for the Purple and Gold, and the newly-signed Taurean Prince is being considered to start alongside them, according to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha.

D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves will also presumably start alongside James and Davis, but there is some competition between Prince, Jarred Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura for the final starting role.

Buha wrote of the three candidates to fill the spot:

“Each candidate has a different argument. Of the three, Vanderbilt is the best perimeter defender, which the starters clearly need, and adds solid rebounding and infectious energy. Hachimura is sturdy and athletic, capable of finishing in the paint and midrange areas while also defending bigs. Prince is the best shooter by a significant margin, an important box to check in a James-Davis frontcourt.”

The Lakers signed Prince to a one-year, $4.5 million deal in July after he spent the last two seasons of his career with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Prince appeared in 54 games for the T-Wolves last season, though he only started four of them and he hasn’t been a full-time starter since the 2019-20 campaign. He averaged 9.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists while shooting 46.7 percent from the floor and 38.1 percent from deep.

While Prince is a solid candidate to play alongside James and Davis, it’s hard to ignore Hachimura after the postseason he had in 2023, helping lead the Lakers to the Western Conference Finals.

Hachimura averaged 12.2 points and 3.6 rebounds in 16 playoff games while shooting 55.7 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent from deep. While he played primarily off the bench, there’s no doubt he could start if called upon after being a starter during the early stages of his career with the Washington Wizards.

After a disappointing finish to the 2022-23 campaign, the Lakers enter 2023-24 with higher expectations as they aim to win another title in the James-Davis era. That said, whoever they insert into the starting five will presumably be under a lot of pressure to succeed.