Report: Darvin Ham Told Lakers Not To Trade Taurean Prince

According to NBA insider Jovan Buha of The Athletic, head coach Darvin Ham told the Los Angeles Lakers’ front office not to trade 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.

“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 field, 38.6% from beyond the arc and 73.5% from the free-throw line. He’s making $4.5 million.

Ham finally benched Prince on February 3 against the New York Knicks. The Lakers started D’Angelo Russell, Reaves, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James and Anthony Davis and beat the Knicks by a final score of 113-105.

Prince has played well 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 floor, 40.0% from 3 and 70.0% from the foul line.

The Lakers, after beating the New Orleans Pelicans last night by 17 points, improved to 28-26. 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 consecutive year.