Taurean Prince

[FNG]

I'm probably one of the biggest Rubio bobos on this board, so I was not a fan of the Rubio for Prince trade. My comments on the trade thread reflect a man in need of professional psychological help, and others were similarly not happy.

But it's several weeks later, and there's a chance Prince could become our starting SF if Jaden and Beasley are part of a deal for Simmons. I'm such a rube, I'm immediately looking for ways to get excited about a KAT/Simmons/Prince/Ant/Dlo starting lineup. But since I'm already on record as not being a fan of Prince, I need some help from some of you who know more about Prince than I do. I posted in the trade thread what poor defensive metrics Prince had last year, and that concerns me considering he will be joining Dlo (confirmed defensive disaster) and Ant (potential, but not much defensive success either in college or rookie year) in the starting lineup.

I note that Prince is a pretty good 3-point shooter, and that is encouraging. But his poor rebounding numbers and defensive metrics concern me. I need you guys to come through for me and tell me why I should be happy if Prince is our likely starter at SF (assuming Jaden gets traded). I'm a rubish sap, so I can be easily swayed. Help me...

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

If Ben Simmons is traded to Minnesota, you can almost guarantee that Taurean Prince is involved for salary-matching purposes. That makes this discussion a very limited one from where I sit.

However, Prince is an above-average three-point shooter with some extra capabilities scoring the basketball. I also think he's a satisfactory defender when he's used as a three instead of as a four. He's best coming off the bench where said limitations aren't magnified. If there's a Simmons trade that thins the forward spot even more, I still think you have Prince come off the bench. I would start Patrick Beverley, D'Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards, Simmons, and Karl-Anthony Towns. It's wonky, but it would perform as needed. The substitutions would just need to be more creative.

[FNG]

Cam, tell me why you think Prince would be part of a Beasley/Jaden deal rather than Beverley? While Simmons would be our PF, Philly always thought of him as a PG. I think they would be reluctant to go into this season with Milton and Maxey at PG. They're also thin at PF, but as you said, Prince looks much more like a SF to me than a PF. I think Philly will insist on Beverley over Prince.

I'm not opposed to your lineup with Beverley and Dlo in the backcourt, but we can't expect both of them to play much more than 60 games, so I think we're going to see Ant at SG and Prince at SF more...and even if both our PGs are healthy. That's why I need to get more comfortable with Prince possibly starting at SF. He's a poor rebounder and defender when he plays PF, but I agree his D may be more suitable to playing the 3...and his rebounding too. He does seem to be a solid 3-point shooter so the prospect of Simmons looking for KAT, Dlo, Ant or Prince beyond the arc is pretty exciting. I'm already starting to get more comfortable with Prince, but I still need others to sell him to me a little more.

[Lipoli390]

Cam, tell me why you think Prince would be part of a Beasley/Jaden deal rather than Beverley? While Simmons would be our PF, Philly always thought of him as a PG. I think they would be reluctant to go into this season with Milton and Maxey at PG. They're also thin at PF, but as you said, Prince looks much more like a SF to me than a PF. I think Philly will insist on Beverley over Prince.

I'm not opposed to your lineup with Beverley and Dlo in the backcourt, but we can't expect both of them to play much more than 60 games, so I think we're going to see Ant at SG and Prince at SF more...and even if both our PGs are healthy. That's why I need to get more comfortable with Prince possibly starting at SF. He's a poor rebounder and defender when he plays PF, but I agree his D may be more suitable to playing the 3...and his rebounding too. He does seem to be a solid 3-point shooter so the prospect of Simmons looking for KAT, Dlo, Ant or Prince beyond the arc is pretty exciting. I'm already starting to get more comfortable with Prince, but I still need others to sell him to me a little more.

FNG - I know you're asking Cam, but I'll chime in. Obviously, one of those two, Beverley or Prince, would have to be included in a deal that doesn't include DLO. I have to think that Morey would much prefer Beverley over Prince. However, I would hope that Rosas would push hard to include Prince rather than Beverley - especially if we're going to include McDaniels. If we included both McDaniels and Beverley we'd be giving up our two best defenders to get a top defender in Simmons. That's still probably a net gain defensively, but it certainly diminishes the defensive benefit of the deal. As good as Simmons is defensively, he's not going to lift the Wolves from 28th into the to 15 by himself. In Philly he's had the luxury of playing with the League's best defensive big (maybe 2nd best to Gobert) and other terrific defenders like Harris and Thybulle.

[FNG]

Cam, tell me why you think Prince would be part of a Beasley/Jaden deal rather than Beverley? While Simmons would be our PF, Philly always thought of him as a PG. I think they would be reluctant to go into this season with Milton and Maxey at PG. They're also thin at PF, but as you said, Prince looks much more like a SF to me than a PF. I think Philly will insist on Beverley over Prince.

I'm not opposed to your lineup with Beverley and Dlo in the backcourt, but we can't expect both of them to play much more than 60 games, so I think we're going to see Ant at SG and Prince at SF more...and even if both our PGs are healthy. That's why I need to get more comfortable with Prince possibly starting at SF. He's a poor rebounder and defender when he plays PF, but I agree his D may be more suitable to playing the 3...and his rebounding too. He does seem to be a solid 3-point shooter so the prospect of Simmons looking for KAT, Dlo, Ant or Prince beyond the arc is pretty exciting. I'm already starting to get more comfortable with Prince, but I still need others to sell him to me a little more.

FNG - I know you're asking Cam, but I'll chime in. Obviously, one of those two, Beverley or Prince, would have to be included in a deal that doesn't include DLO. I have to think that Morey would much prefer Beverley over Prince. However, I would hope that Rosas would push hard to include Prince rather than Beverley - especially if we're going to include McDaniels. If we included both McDaniels and Beverley we'd be giving up our two best defenders to get a top defender in Simmons. That's still probably a net gain defensively, but it certainly diminishes the defensive benefit of the deal. As good as Simmons is defensively, he's not going to lift the Wolves from 28th into the to 15 by himself. In Philly he's had the luxury of playing with the League's best defensive big (maybe 2nd best to Gobert) and other terrific defenders like Harris and Thybulle.

Yeah, I hear what you're saying, and I would prefer to keep Beverley too...I just don't know if Morey wants Prince. You've seen Cam's starting lineup if both Prince and Jaden are gone, and you've read my concerns. What's your starting lineup going forward if they're both gone?

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Prince actually had very good defensive metrics as a rookie. That must have been an anomaly because he's been decidedly mediocre since then. I think what may have helped that season is he only played about 16 MPG off the bench and was in a low-usage role, so I suspect he really tried to make his mark on defense. Not sure why that never carried over into subsequent seasons....

[Monster]

Prince actually had very good defensive metrics as a rookie. That must have been an anomaly because he's been decidedly mediocre since then. I think what may have helped that season is he only played about 16 MPG off the bench and was in a low-usage role, so I suspect he really tried to make his mark on defense. Not sure why that never carried over into subsequent seasons....

It feels like Prince is a guy that COULD end up playing better in his next stop than he has the last couple. I'm not saying that will happen here but I think there is something there especially as you kinda alluded to depending on his role.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Prince actually had very good defensive metrics as a rookie. That must have been an anomaly because he's been decidedly mediocre since then. I think what may have helped that season is he only played about 16 MPG off the bench and was in a low-usage role, so I suspect he really tried to make his mark on defense. Not sure why that never carried over into subsequent seasons....

It feels like Prince is a guy that COULD end up playing better in his next stop than he has the last couple. I'm not saying that will happen here but I think there is something there especially as you kinda alluded to depending on his role.

Assuming the Ben Simmons dream dies and we continue down the steady-state path we've mostly been on this offseason, the question to me is this: Is Prince an upgrade to Okogie? Josh is not a playoff-rotation caliber player in my opinion and him moving down the pecking order would be a sign of progress.

[FNG]

Prince actually had very good defensive metrics as a rookie. That must have been an anomaly because he's been decidedly mediocre since then. I think what may have helped that season is he only played about 16 MPG off the bench and was in a low-usage role, so I suspect he really tried to make his mark on defense. Not sure why that never carried over into subsequent seasons....

It feels like Prince is a guy that COULD end up playing better in his next stop than he has the last couple. I'm not saying that will happen here but I think there is something there especially as you kinda alluded to depending on his role.

Assuming the Ben Simmons dream dies and we continue down the steady-state path we've mostly been on this offseason, the question to me is this: Is Prince an upgrade to Okogie? Josh is not a playoff-rotation caliber player in my opinion and him moving down the pecking order would be a sign of progress.

That's a depressing, but realistic question, Q. Damn you. I guess I do see him as an upgrade. We know he can shoot, and Josh can't. And as much as I appreciate what Josh does, I think we might overrate his defense and underrate Prince's defense because of his poorer results when he is forced to guard PFs.

So yeah, he's an upgrade. But we still don't get to 35 wins.