Taurean Prince Latest Nets Player to End Up Out of NBA's Restart
As we’ve discussed previously, it’s been a rough season for those of you who are fans of the Brooklyn Nets. The team struggled to stay healthy all season, even after making one of the biggest free-agent splashes in team history during the offseason. Instead of contending for the Atlantic Division crown with the power trio of the defending champion Raptors, the dangerous Celtics and the talented 76ers, Brooklyn found themselves fourth in the division when the season was paused March 12. They were four games under .500 and had fired their head coach in Kenny Atkinson just two games before the pause, replacing him with Jacque Vaughn.
Kevin Durant didn’t play a game this season as he continued to recover from a torn Achilles suffered in the NBA Finals last season while he was with Golden State. Kyrie Irving had a shoulder problem all season long, had season-ending surgery in February, and played in only 20 of the team’s 64 games before the season was put on pause. That was the just the start of the problems.
With the league nearing its restart with seeding games slated to begin on July 30, the hits have kept coming for the Nets, leaving them scrambling for answers about their rotation. Nic Claxton underwent surgery for a labrum issue in his shoulder last month and is done for the year. Wilson Chandler opted out of the restart in late June, stating that the “health and well-being of his family has to come first” as opposed to taking the floor. That closed a disappointing season and likely his Nets chapter. He missed the first 25 games after being suspended for testing positive for a PED and averaged just 5.9 points plus 4.1 rebounds per contest in 35 games on the year.
In addition to those losses, Deandre Jordan was knocked out of the restart after testing positive for COVID-19. Earlier this week, Spencer Dinwiddie followed suit, shortly after stating he was hoping to get back on the floor, after his second positive test on Monday. Suddenly, the Nets’ top big man and their second-leading scorer, who picked up the slack in Irving’s absence, were out of the mix, making things that much more difficult for the Nets in the restart. Someone was going to have to pick up the slack and contribute to help the retooled team to victory.
Instead, Brooklyn was hammered again with another loss to their rotation as it was announced that Taurean Prince is out for the restart after he was diagnosed with the coronavirus. It was decided that Prince wouldn’t have enough time to get up to optimal playing shape with the delays involved. He would have to test negative twice in Brooklyn, get to Orlando on his own, and then quarantine there before being allowed into the bubble. By that point, it would be tough to get into the proper shape for playing down the stretch. Rather than run the risk of having him suffer an injury, the decision was made that it made more sense for him to sit out.
Prince had averaged 12.1 points and six rebounds per game while playing 61 of the 64 games Brooklyn had logged before the pause. He shot 37.6 percent from the field, including 33.6 percent from three-point range, and connected on 79.8 percent of his attempts at the charity stripe. Prince was acquired in a deal with the Hawks with a second-round pick in 2021 in exchange for Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Allen Crabbe and a lottery-protected first-round pick in 2020. He signed a two-year, $29 million extension in October, so he’ll likely be around with Brooklyn in the 2020-21 campaign as well.
The Nets are left trying to find players to fill the now four open roster slots that they have heading to the bubble. Justin Anderson, who has played all of 17 minutes in three games with the Nets, is expected to sign and fill one of those spots. Marc Stein has stated that big man Amir Johnson, who didn’t play this season, is on the radar for the Nets, while Kevin Durant0 has said that the team is also looking at combo forward Lance Thomas, who spent some time with the Nets in preseason.
The Nets have plenty of work to do in order to get up to speed and that means they need to put together some new blood in a hurry to get up to speed. It’s a daunting challenge for coach Jacque Vaughn and GM Sean Marks to get this team to compete. Things got that much tougher for them this week.