Report: Lakers could have surprising fifth starter

Nov 30, 2022; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham at a press conference during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham may be playing a surprise trap card this season.

Jovan Buha of The Athletic reported on Thursday that new Lakers forward Taurean Prince has emerged as a candidate to be the team’s fifth starter. Prince is said to be “more involved” with the Lakers’ starters at training camp scrimmages and will be an option to win the job along with Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt.

Prince, 29, just signed with the Lakers this offseason. As such, both Hachimura and Vanderbilt, who were already on the team last season, would figure to have the upper hand. But Prince is a fantastic three-point shooter (38.4 percent over the last three seasons combined) and has a high level of activity on defense. That would allow the Lakers to play five-out on offense while still being able to go switch-heavy on the other end (alongside the four locked-in starters of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, and D’Angelo Russell).

At 6-foot-7 though, Prince is the smallest of the three potential fifth starters. That means he might not be entirely feasible in the starting unit given how the Lakers would like to manage Anthony Davis’ role. But Prince is clearly making noise in training camp and might just be able to barge into the starting five with his 3-and-D skillset.