Atlanta Hawks: Trading Taurean Prince Would Be a Big Mistake

When Atlanta Hawks wing player Taurean Prince returned from a severe ankle sprain, reports immediately surfaced of teams being interested in trading for the sweet shooting small forward. Unless he is part of a deal to land an established young star, trading Prince would be a big mistake.

Atlanta Hawks small forward Taurean Waller-Prince continues to round into form after missing 18 games with a badly sprained ankle. Since returning, Prince has averaged 9.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.

Taurean Prince recently had a minutes restriction lifted. He responded with his best game since returning from injury. Prince scored 15 points and pulled down six rebounds, in the Hawks 121-101 victory in Chicago. Taurean shot the ball well, making six of ten shots from the floor and three of seven from downtown.

All three of Taurean Prince’s three-point makes, came in the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter. The game was a very positive step in Taurean returning to form.

As Prince has returned from his injury, reports have begun to surface that other NBA teams have called Atlanta Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk, to inquire about the availability of Mr. Taurean Prince.

According to Shams Charnania of The Athletic (subscription required), is reporting that the Atlanta Hawks are indeed engaging teams that are calling about Taurean Prince. Brad Rowland of Peachtree also covered the Prince trade discussions.

It’s easy to see why teams would be interested in the services of Mr. Prince. Taurean has averaged 14.1 points and 4.7 rebounds on 37.8 percent from three-point range. He gave the Atlanta Hawks a great glimpse of what type of scorer he can be, when he is locked in during the second half of last season.

During the second half of last season, Taurean Prince scored 20 or more points 15 times and 30 or more points four times. He only scored 20 or more points five times and 30 points one time in the first half of the 2017-18 season.

Taurean Prince set and again tied a career high, as he went off for two 38 point games near the end of last season. He also had a 33 point outburst. He had a four game stretch in which he averaged 30.8 points per game.

Here are the highlights from his 38 point explosion against the Chicago Bulls, complements of Bleacher Reports’ House of Highlights: