Taurean Prince has taken on a larger workload than he likely expected when he first signed with the Milwaukee Bucks.
With Khris Middleton missing time to begin the season as he recovered from his offseason surgeries, Prince got the nod at the starting small forward spot. The forward played extremely well, shooting the lights out and playing strong defense. Upon Middleton returning, Prince moved back to the bench to make room for the three-time All-Star.
Now, with the Bucks opting to move Middleton to a reserve role, Prince is back in the starting lineup, and his numbers suggest that isn't a bad thing for Milwaukee.
Taurean Prince's numbers have been night and day for the Bucks
As a starter this season, Taurean Prince has been electric. Across 29 games, he's averaged a line of 7.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists while shooting a team-high 51 percent from downtown. His numbers noticeably decrease in the seven games he's come off the bench, where he averages just 6.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists while hitting a mere 24.1 percent of his triples.
Obviously, the most drastic difference is in the 3-point shooting. Prince goes from being one of the best marksmen in the NBA as a starter to a liability as a reserve. A sizeable part of that may be due to the time on the court with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. The space he gets to fire away on offense when playing with those two gives him more open looks, and he clearly capitalizes.
One of the reasons Doc Rivers likely made the Prince-for-Middleton lineup switch recently was the shooting he knew Prince could bring. With Brook Lopez and Andre Jackson Jr. both being hit or miss with their shooting and Middleton still looking for his groove, bringing one of the top shooters in the entire NBA into the starting five to provide some consistency made plenty of sense.
If Taurean Prince keeps producing like this as a starter, not only will he prove to be one of the biggest offseason steals for any team, but he will set himself up for a nice payday this coming NBA offseason. On that same note, it will be hard to pry him out of the Milwaukee Bucks' starting five once again if and when Khris Middleton starts to feel like his old self.
For now, the sweet-shooting Taurean Prince has earned that spot.
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