Brooklyn’s first move of its game-changing summer of 2019 was to acquire Taurean Prince. Before the acquisitions of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and DeAndre Jordan, the Nets agreed to send Allen Crabbe and picks to Atlanta with the young forward heading into his fourth season coming to Brooklyn in return.
The question for the 6-foot-7 Prince was which forward slot he would fill in Brooklyn, or if it would be a little bit of both. He ended up playing primarily the 4, starting 61 of 64 games there before the season was suspended in March. His season ended there, as Prince did not participate in the NBA restart in Orlando after testing positive for COVID-19 early in the summer.
Prince handled the position by posting a career-high rebounding rate and giving Brooklyn a 3-point threat at the 4, attempting more threes per game than any Net besides Irving, who was limited to 20 games.
TOP THREE GAMES
Nov. 20 vs. Hornets
Prince had some key late baskets with a 3-pointer and a transition finish as the Nets held off Charlotte for a 101-91 win. Prince finished with 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists and shot 4-of-9 from 3-point range.
Dec. 4 at Hawks
In his return to Atlanta after playing his first three NBA seasons with the Hawks, Prince scored 23 points in this 130-118 Nets win. He also had six rebounds, four assists and two steals while shooting 9-of-15 overall and 5-of-7 from 3-point range.
Nov. 1 vs. Rockets
Prince led the Nets with a season-high 27 points in this 123-116 win over the Rockets. His 3-pointer with two minutes to go extended the Brooklyn lead to 114-106. Prince also had 12 rebounds and shot 9-of-17, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range.
BY THE NUMBERS
6.7 & 431
Prince led the Nets in 3-pointers attempted per game and total 3-pointers attempted. He took 58.3 percent of his shots from 3-point range.
6.0
Prince’s career-high 6.0 rebounds per game were third on the Nets behind DeAndre Jordan and Jarrett Allen. He had a career-high 14 rebounds against Minnesota on Dec. 30.